


Gold Rush

by Diaryofanarcissisticgayman



Series: Things That Go Bump In The Night [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fae!Niall, Luke and Ashton get to be POV characters, Lycan!Ashton, Lycan!Harry, Lycan!Luke, M/M, Mpreg, Niall has big plans, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pregnant Harry, That Boy is a Monster!Verse, also Harry trying to learn to act like a human is only marginally successful, attempted suicide, he's hormonal as hell, it's not successful though, mostly a happy fic, vampire!Louis, vampire!liam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 19:39:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5017807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diaryofanarcissisticgayman/pseuds/Diaryofanarcissisticgayman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You might as well come out. I can feel you over there.” Niall chuckles, folding his mixture over slowly. It’s hard to do anything slowly anymore, but sometimes it’s nice to just let his human side have all of the control and slow down.</p>
<p>“I like watching you down here.” Harry hums, walking into the kitchens and taking a seat on the counter. “It’s interesting seeing you act like this. You’re so- Domestic. I don’t believe a King of Final Bastion has ever done anything like this.”</p>
<p>“Home.” Niall reminds him. “It’s called Home, now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A.K.A. the fic where everyone finally gets their happy endings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gold Rush

**Author's Note:**

> So I originally planned to post this all as a one-shot when it was complete, but people really want to know what happens next, so I'm posting it in 2 parts. This is roughly the first half of things. Just a warning for people. This epilogue if going to cover the first five years or so after Niall's coronation, so there will be some time skips. For example, the first 6 scenes all take place in the first few weeks after the Master's defeat, but then it jumps forward by several months to the one year anniversary of Niall being taken. If anyone need clarification on times of events, feel free to ask me.
> 
> P.S. Aednat is pronounced Ey-Nit. 
> 
> P.P.S. This hasn't been beta'd, and I've only edited it once, so please let me know about any mistakes.
> 
> Title from Gold Rush by Ed Sheeran

“You might as well come out. I can feel you over there.” Niall chuckles, folding his mixture over slowly. It’s hard to do anything slowly anymore, but sometimes it’s nice to just let his human side have all of the control and slow down.

“I like watching you down here.” Harry hums, walking into the kitchens and taking a seat on the counter. “It’s interesting seeing you act like this. You’re so- Domestic. I don’t believe a King of Final Bastion has ever done anything like this.”

“Home.” Niall reminds him. “It’s called Home, now.”

“Yes, yes, I’m aware.” Harry waves him off. “But it’s been Final Bastion for my entire reign as King. I’m the one who renamed it.”

“You never told me that before.” Niall says with a soft smile. “What was it called before?”

“Sanctum.” Harry answers. “It was called Sanctum, until it was the last empire left. And it was called Baile before it was Sanctum. What are you making?”

“A cake.” Niall grins.

“And I don’t suppose that mentioning you nearly dying on three different occasions only a week ago, and spending four days afterwards sleeping off the consequences afterwards, will do any good?” Harry asks, that concerned look coming up on his face that he’s worn like a mask ever since the coronation.

“Nope.” Niall giggles, ignoring Harry’s indignant huff and eye roll. “I have to make this. We have a celebration coming up.”

“What celebration?” Harry questions.

“I found a book.” Niall offers in explanation, nodding his head towards the old leather-bound volume that he’d discovered as the books starting coming back from the facility. “It’s the end of August in a few days, and according to that book, which is a record of every King and Chevalier dating back for thousands of years, Liam’s birthday is today.”

“Is it?” Harry asks.

“It is.” Niall chuckles. “I didn’t know that he’s fifteen years older than you.”

“I told you, I’ve lost track of that sort of thing.” Harry shrugs, dipping his finger into the mixture and sucking it into his mouth. Niall can feel his tongue run over his finger, can taste the chocolate, and it sends a shiver up his spine with dirty thoughts. “You need to add in some salt. Not too much, but some. It’ll open up the flavors more.”

“What would you know about baking?” Niall scoffs. “You told me that no king has ever done anything like this.”

“No king has.” Harry smirks. “But my mother wasn’t the king, nor was I when she was alive. On the surface, to hide the fact that she was a witch, she worked as a cook in the house of a lord. That allowed her to order herbs and learn her craft, under the guise of cooking.”

“Smart woman.” Niall chuckles.

“She was.” Harry says softly. “She would have liked you, I think. She would have liked that you refuse to allow yourself to be treated like royalty, even though you are. She never let anyone help her do anything that she could do herself. It drove my father mad when she’d come down to the kitchens and boil her own bath water, using magic to carry it all the way to their room to bathe.”

“Sounds like my kind of woman.” Niall laughs. “Completely unlike her poncy git of a son.”

“Hey!” Harry whines.

“You need an army of servants just to get through the day.” Niall smirks. “You’ll be helpless when I take you onto the surface. I’m going to have to watch you like you’re a pup.”

“I have been to the surface a time or two.” Harry scoffs. “And I’m not helpless.”

“Do you know how to drive a car?” Niall questions. “How to make yourself breakfast? How to make a phone call?”

“No.” Harry sighs. “Fine, I might be on a bit of a learning curve, but I won’t be helpless.”

“Don’t worry, Fuzzy.” Niall hums, leaning over to press a kiss to Harry’s cheek before swiping his tongue out to lap up a bit of the batter that had fallen onto Harry’s chin from when he transferred it to his mouth. “I’ll take care of you up there.”

“Will you teach me about it all?” Harry requests, blushing just a bit. Niall feels the trepidation, the embarrassment, pounding away in Harry’s chest as he asks. “I don’t want you to just do everything for me. I want to learn how to do it all for myself.”

“Of course I will, Fuzzy.” Niall assures him. “I’ll have you acting like a normal member of human society in no time.”

“I doubt that.” Harry chuckles. “You forget that we’re going to live a very long time, bar some other world ending crisis on par with the Master. Human society will move on much faster than you realize while we’re down here. One day, you’ll go up to the surface, you’ll look around, and nothing will be familiar anymore.”

“I don’t think I’ll care all that much.” Niall admits. “There are more important things than keeping up on human current events and innovations.”

“You say that now.” Harry hums. “But what happens when you go up there, and they don’t have your i-puddles or your McBurgers?”

“You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?” Niall cackles. “You have to be doing that on purpose.”

“My point is valid, regardless of whether or not I’m exaggerating my ignorance of human culture.” Harry mutters. “But yes, I am. I know what McDonalds is, and what iPods are. Occasionally, we have to blend in when we go to the surface. I find McDonalds to be- Greasy.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of the point.” Niall snorts. “It’s not supposed to be fine cuisine.”

“I suppose.” Harry shrugs. “I still don’t like it very much.”

“I’m sure we’ll find some way to survive.” Niall laughs. “Now, stop distracting me from my cake preparations.”

“You do realize that Liam and Louis don’t eat, right?” Harry asks. “They can’t ingest anything except blood.”

“I know.” Niall nods. “The cake is for the rest of us. For them, I’ve made something special.”

 

“Blood sorbet?” Liam asks, looking suspiciously at the frozen concoction that Niall has placed in front of him.

“It took some creativity to make, but I thought you’d appreciate something more festive than just a couple of bags of O-Negative in a nice chalice. It’s a celebration, so you shouldn’t have the same thing you have every night.” Niall says with a sweet smile. “It’s human, by the way. Louis tells me that it’s better for you than the blood of anything supernatural, so I got some from a blood-bank.”

“I- Thank you?” Liam says tentatively. Niall just beams at him before he goes back to his task of passing things around to people. He’s made an entire feast to celebrate the day of Liam’s birth, three hundred and twenty nine years ago. Does a birthday matter after you’ve died? Does your re-birthdate hold more significance? He makes a note to ask Louis about it later.

“At least pretend to enjoy it.” Harry chuckles, taking a seat next to him.

“Why is he doing all of this?” Liam questions. “Did you not tell him that these sorts of things aren’t celebrated by our people?”

“Because, he needs to feel normal.” Harry says, his eyes locked on Niall laughing with Luke across the table, a fond smile on his lips. “He’s not had a moment’s rest since he arrived here. He’s experienced more in the last two months than most humans do in their entire lives, and that’s not including the thirteen months that he’s spent in Sídhe, and now everything is relatively calm. I think he needs to do something that will remind him that everything is okay now. He’s safe, but he doesn’t feel safe. I believe that the human expression for what he’s feeling would be, ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop.’”

“He’s a warrior with no more wars to fight.” Liam sighs.

“He was never a warrior.” Harry murmurs. “He tried to make himself into one, but he was never really a warrior. He’s an artist, through and through. He was meant to bring life and beauty into the world. I believe that you’re doing what’s known as projection. You’re the warrior with no more wars left to fight, Liam.”

“Maybe.” Liam shrugs.

“I don’t think you were meant to be a warrior either though.” Harry says gently, placing a hand on Liam’s arm. “You never had a choice in what you became. None of us really did, but I don’t think that it’s what you’re meant to be.”

“I guess I’ll have to find out for myself.” Liam mumbles.

“You don’t have to do it alone.” Harry tells him. “We’re all here to help you figure out what path you’re going to take, Liam.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Liam says with a small smile.

“Stop that.” Harry chides. “It’s about time you took a lesson from Louis. Call me Harry. Please.”

“I- Thank you- Harry.” Liam sighs, the word feeling all but blasphemous on his tongue.

“You’re welcome, Liam.” Harry grins. “Now eat your sorbet. My mate worked very hard on that.”

Liam lets out a light laugh, the first he can remember in far too long, and brings a spoonful of the sorbet to his mouth. He has to admit, it’s actually really tasty.

 

“Hey there, big man on campus.” Ashton smirks, sauntering up to Luke with a towel wrapped low around his waist. His hair is still damp from the shower he must have taken while Luke was getting them breakfast. “What are you looking for?”

“Left that bloody little phone-computer thing around here somewhere.” Luke grumbles, searching through the blankets on the bed. “I swear it disappears.”

“It’s called a mobile, and it’s right here.” Ashton hums, wrapping his hand around Luke’s wrist and tugging him back around to look at the nightstand. Of course, even though Luke swears he’s already looked there, it’s sitting right on top, next to the lamp. “You need to relax.”

“I can’t.” Luke sighs. “King Harry left me in charge of the return to Final Bastion.”

“Home.” Ashton corrects him. “They’ve renamed it, remember?”

“Yeah.” Luke says with a roll of his eyes. “King Niall is such a fucking sap.”

“He didn’t name it that because he’s a sap.” Ashton chuckles. “Yiwarla, Alaya, Al-watan, and Wasi; they all mean ‘Home’ in their respective mother tongues. He asked me about it, and then he decided that it would be right to rename Final Bastion, because we don’t need a place to hide anymore. We need a home.”

“You’re a fucking sap too.” Luke snorts, grabbing his mobile off of the table. “I’ll see you later. I have a lot to do today, so I’ll probably not be back before you’ve gone to sleep.”

“I could help, you know.” Ashton says, letting his towel drop to the ground.

“You’ve just barely gotten back from another world, where you spent a year fighting monsters that outclassed you on nearly every level.” Luke murmurs. “You should take some time to rest. This move is stressful.”

“I’m not talking about helping with the move.” Ashton scoffs, placing his palm flat against Luke’s chest and pushing him onto the bed. He barely gives Luke a chance to land before he’s straddling over the blond’s lap and practically purring out, “I meant with the stress.”

“Ash, I don’t have time.” Luke groans, even as he grips hard onto Ashton’s bare thighs.

“As you pointed out, I just spent a year in another world.” Ashton hums, tearing Luke’s shirt open without a care as to the fact that he has a very limited wardrobe. “You’ve only fucked me once since we’ve been back, and that’s very stressful for me, Lukey. I need you to help me relieve my stress too. It’s unhealthy to bottle all this stress up.”

“Well I suppose that we can have a quick go around, if it’s for your health.” Luke snorts.

“That’s my Lukey.” Ashton hums, grinding down hard onto Luke’s lap. “Come on. Give me some of that medicine you’ve got in your pants.”

“You’re an idiot.” Luke scoffs. “If you want the relief so bad, you’re going to do all the work.”

“Good. I’m better at it than you are anyways.” Ashton smirks.

“Is that so?” Luke growls, pushing Ashton off to the side and pinning him down to the mattress.

“No.” Ashton giggles. “I just really prefer when you participate in our little escapades.”

“Well then, I guess I should participate.” Luke grins, rutting down against Ashton’s now-hard cock.

“Shut up, get your trousers off, and fuck me already.” Ashton moans, rubbing back up against Luke for friction.

Luke does as instructed, reaching back and shoving his trousers down enough to let himself free of the constricting material. He sucks two fingers into his mouth, and Ashton reacts by spreading his legs apart and pulling them up. He’s always so eager, and Luke knows the feeling. They’ve been together for twenty five years, and never once in those twenty-five years has Luke found himself anything less than enthralled with the man below him. If he’s being honest, he was enthralled by Ashton even when they were still just pups. He lets Ashton believe in the story they tell people, that they both fell in love with each other after they found each other again, but it’s not quite the whole truth. Not for Luke at least.

Ashton was his idol when Luke was a pup. He was only two years older than Luke, but that was just enough to keep them from spending as much time together as the younger lad would have liked. Ashton was smart and daring and had no qualms about breaking rules in the name of a new adventure. Luke on the other hand was shy, easily embarrassed, and the only reason he ever wanted anything even resembling excitement was because he wanted to be closer to Ashton. That’s why he’d been so surprised when Ashton had come to him in the middle of the night a few days before he turned sixteen years of age, and asked Luke to come out into the city with him. The conversation was a lifetime ago, but Luke remembers it like it was yesterday.

_“Ash? Ash, what- what are you doing?” Luke stammers, blinking owlishly at the shaggy haired boy hovering over him in his bunk._

_“Come on.” Ashton says with a grin that is somehow both wicked and comforting at the same time. “We’re busting out of here for tonight.”_

_“Ash, no. We’ll get in trouble.” Luke reasons. Magda is a kind woman, and loves them all dearly, but she takes a certain kind of gleeful pleasure in getting to punish the boys for misbehaving. Luke thinks it’s probably that she gets to sit back and kick up her feet - foot - and watch, while whoever is being punished (usually Ashton for this exact sort of thing) does all of her work for her._

_“Nah, Ol’ Magda is out for the night.” Ashton hums, slumping down so that he’s now laying on top of Luke’s body, making his brain go a bit fuzzier than it already is. “Sorry to interrupt your wet dreams, but I need to talk with you, and we’re more likely to get caught here than out there.”_

_“Fine.” Luke sighs, knowing full-well that he can’t deny the magnetic boy on top of him anything that he asks for. He’ll probably end up scrubbing floors and scouring pots and making everyone’s meals for a week, but he knows it’ll be worth it once Ashton beams at him, lighting up the room more than the moon could ever hope to._

_“Knew you’d make the right choice. You’re the best, Little Lukey” Ashton giggles, dropping a peck on Luke’s cheek and scrambling off of him. “Meet me at the front door in two minutes, alright?”_

_“Whatever. Just be quiet or you’ll wake everyone up.” Luke grumbles._

_“Two minutes.” Ashton repeats, the hint of a smile in his whisper before he’s gone. Luke sneaks out of his bed, and grabs a shirt that Calum had left on the floor to avoid opening the wardrobe because it squeaks. He’s only wearing a loose-fitting pair of sleeping trousers on his lower half, but they’ll have to do._

_After two minutes have passed, Luke creeps out of his room as silently as he can, navigating the room easily in the dark. He’s done some growing lately though, and it’s made his body a bit unwieldy. His wrist catches on a table, knocking over a vase. He sucks in a breath and closes his eyes in anticipation of being caught, but the sound of shattering never comes. Instead, all he hears, right next to his ear, is Ashton whispering, “Are you trying to get us caught, or are you just clumsy?”_

_“Clumsy.” Luke mumbles bashfully._

_“Think you can make it the rest of the way out without knocking anything else over, or do I need to carry you?” Ashton chuckles, setting the vase back where it belongs._

_“I’m not a pup anymore, Ash.” Luke grumbles, squatting down and leaping into the air. He lands lightly on his feet, right next to the door._

_Ashton is at his side a moment later, and hums, “No, I don’t suppose you are.”_

_He opens the door silently and ushers Luke out into the night before closing it behind them. Neither of them speak again until they’re out of sight of the orphanage. Luke would ask where they’re going, but he knows Ashton, which means that he already has a pretty good idea without having to actually voice the question._

_“It’s my birthday in a few days.” Ashton murmurs once the coliseum comes into their sight, just as Luke had predicted._

_“I know.” Luke says quietly._

_“My sixteenth.” Ashton adds._

_“I know that too.” Luke sighs._

_“And you know what that means.” Ashton continues. “I have to choose my path. I can become a soldier, or a servant, or a tradesman.”_

_“Ash, why are you telling me all of this?” Luke asks, trying to distract himself from the sinking feeling in his gut at the thought of Ashton’s departure. It’s all he’s been able to think about for months, but he refuses to let Ashton know that the very thought of it makes him want to cry._

_“Because I don’t know what choice to make, and you’re the only one that can help me decide.” Ashton says with a soft smile. “You’ve been helping take care of me since we were little, even though you’re younger than me. I’m sorry that I’ve done put that on you, and I’m sorry that I have to ask for your help one more time.”_

_“I don’t mind.” Luke says shyly, quickly, mumbling the words together so that they’re one small exhale. He doesn’t even know if Ashton heard him, because the older boy makes no acknowledgment of his words. Instead, he’s focused on opening one of the doors to the arena. Luke’s eyes widen, and he squeaks out, “Ash, what are you doing? We can’t go in there!”_

_“Relax, Little Lukey.” Ashton says with a soft smile. “A friend of mine left this open for me so that I could have this talk with you.”_

_“Oh.” Ashton huffs, jealousy knotting in his stomach unpleasantly. He knows all about Ashton’s ‘friends’. “Who?”_

_“I’ll explain inside.” Ashton laughs. “Come on.”_

_“No.” Luke says adamantly, shaking his head and planting his heels firmly in the ground. “Getting in trouble with Magda for sneaking out is one thing, but this is really bad, Ashton. I’m not breaking into royal property.”_

_“You have full permission.” someone says from the shadows. A thin, willowy man steps out of the shadows, and Luke drops to his knee immediately in recognition of him._

_“Chevalier.” Luke says dutifully, gripping his shoulder and bowing his head in respect._

_“By the Moon, he’s a miniature Liam. Well, his personality is anyways.” Louis scoffs. “Stand up, pup. Get inside the arena.”_

_“But- Sir- I-” Luke stammers._

_“Luke, this is my friend.” Ashton says, gripping Luke around the elbow and lifting him back up to his feet. “Like I said, he’s left this gate unlocked so that I could talk to you.”_

_“Why?” Luke questions._

_“Because I’ve made your friend here an offer, and I’m hoping that this will tip the scales in my favor.” Louis chuckles. “I’ll leave you two to it then.”_

_“Thank you, Louis.” Ashton hums, leading Luke in through the gate. He looks back, and sees Louis shutting the gate with a smirk on his face. Ashton drags Luke out to the middle of the arena, sits down, and asks, “So, now can we talk?”_

_“What’s going on, Ash?” Luke asks timidly. “Why did you call the Chevalier your friend? What did he mean when he said that he made you an offer? Why are we here?”_

_“Because I’ve always dreamed of being on these sands.” Ashton says reverently, reaching down and scooping up a handful of it. He watches it slip through his fingers and adds, “I’ve always felt like this place was a part of my destiny.”_

_“Oh.” Luke doesn’t know what else to say._

_“I called the Chevalier my friend so that you wouldn’t worry so much about getting in trouble. And when he said he made me an offer, he meant a job.” Ashton murmurs. “One outside of the three categories that most lycans get to choose from.”_

_“Well, what’s holding you back?” Luke asks quietly._

_“If I take the job, I’ll have to do things that aren’t so good.” Ashton admits. “But I’ll be able to go see the surface world. I’ll get to have real adventures. I’ll get to serve Final Bastion as more than just one more cog in the machine.”_

_“Ash-” Luke starts._

_“But I won’t be able to see you anymore.” Ashton whispers, looking up at the moon at the same time he wraps his hand around Luke’s. “If I take the position, I won’t be able to see anyone from the orphanage anymore, unless you happen to end up in the same job. I don’t know if I can do that. I don’t know if I can give you up, even if it means becoming just another cog in the machine.”_

_“Ash, what is your instinct telling you?” Luke questions, focusing objectively on the things Ashton is telling him in a vain attempt to keep his heart from thundering out of his chest._

_“That I can’t make this decision alone.” Ashton admits. “I need to know that you could forgive me if I did this.”_

_“I’d forgive you for anything, Ash.” Luke mumbles. “But why does it matter?”_

_“Because you, Little Lukey, are the closest thing I have to family.” Ashton says, turning his gaze away from the moon and looking straight into Luke’s eyes. “Out of everyone, Magda, Calum, everyone; you’re the one person that I trust the most. And you’re the one person that I don’t know if I can leave behind. But I know, I know, that you will never go into the same line of work. That means that we’ll never see each other again.”_

_“You don’t know that I’ll never go the same way.” Luke says, his voice right on the edge of desperate._

_“Yes, Luke, I do.” Ashton says softly. “You’re not suited to it.”_

_“What is it?” Luke asks._

_“The Chevalier offered me a job in the espionage division.” Ashton whispers. “And you- You are not a spy. You just don’t have it in you, Luke.”_

_“Why not?” Luke asks petulantly._

_“Because you can’t lie.” Ashton chuckles. “It takes a certain kind of person to be able to lie like a spy needs to, and you just aren’t it, Luke. You’re strong, and righteous, and I’m pretty sure that you have the makings of a leader somewhere in there. You’re not meant to be a spy. You’re meant for better things than that.”_

_“Ash-” Luke says, a light blush heating his cheeks up._

_“You’re good, Luke.” Ashton says gently, scooting closer and pulling Luke into his side. “You’re good, and that means that I don’t ever want you trying to follow this path, alright?”_

_“You’re good too, Ash.” Luke mumbles, resting his head on the older boy’s shoulder._

_“Not the same way.” Ashton mutters. “You’re- You’re pure. All of the darkness in this world, it won’t affect you if you choose not to let it. I’m not the same. I don’t have that purity.”_

_“I’ll only forgive you for leaving if you promise not to let that darkness take hold of you.” Luke breathes out. “Because I believe in you, Ash. Don’t let me down.”_

_“I’ve been letting you down for our entire lives.” Ashton sighs._

_“No you haven’t.” Luke smiles. “You may be a trouble maker, and a right pain in the arse, but you’ve never let me down, Ash.”_

_“Either you’re better at lying than I give you credit for-” Ashton hums. “Or you have incredibly low standards set for me.”_

_“Neither.” Luke admits. “You’re just better than you give yourself credit for.”_

_“I’ll have to take your word for that.” Ashton says quietly. “We should head back. Magda will be up soon to make everyone breakfast.”_

_“Are you ready to leave?” Luke asks. “Have you made your decision?”_

_“Yeah, I think I have.” Ashton tells him, standing up and offering a hand to pull Luke up as well. “Thanks, Luke.”_

_“I didn’t do anything.” Luke says, shaking his head. “I think you already knew what you wanted to do before I ever came out here with you.”_

_“I did.” Ashton nods. “But I had to know.”_

_“Had to know what?” Luke asks._

_“If you and I would be okay.” Ashton smiles. “If you could forgive me for going.”_

_“I-” Luke starts. “Ash, why would you make any decision about your life based on what I think?”_

_“Like I said-” Ashton muses, wrapping his arm around Luke’s shoulder and walking with him towards the exit. “You’re the only family I have.”_

_They walk back in silence, neither of them speaking a word until the orphanage is looming in front of them. Ashton stops them when they get to the door and says, “When we left, you told me that you’re not a pup anymore. I know that, Luke. You’re already more of a man than I am. I know that I haven’t always spent enough time with you, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been watching you. You’ve become quite a man, and I have a feeling that you’ll only improve in the years to come.”_

And now, now this man, who Luke has loved since before he knew what love really meant, is writhing and panting and moaning beneath him. He’s clenching around him beautifully, begging for more even though they both know that he prefers it when Luke takes his time and fucks him slowly.

He concedes to the demands though, pumping in harder and holding onto Ashton tighter. When he feels himself nearing the edge, he wraps his hand around Ashton’s cock and tugs in time with his thrusts. There’s a primal part of him that, no matter how many times they do this, insists that Ashton cums first. Nothing is better to Luke, nothing in the world, than watching the way that Ashton comes apart with him.

They come down while wrapped around each other, breath in perfect sync. “You’re right.” Luke chuckles. “I needed that.”

“I know you did, Babe.” Ashton hums. “I needed to make sure that you were as contented as you could be before the meeting.”

“Why?” Luke questions.

“Because there are some difficult things to discuss, and you’re probably not going to like it.” Ashton sighs.

“Ash-” Luke says, narrowing his eyes and climbing off of his mate and out of the bed. “What are you talking about?”

“Some of us have been talking.” Ashton admits. “About Home, and whether or not we want to go back.”

“Ash-” Luke starts, but Ashton cuts him off with a look.

“And who we want to be our leader here.” Ashton adds. “It’s you. All of us unanimously decided on you.”

“But the Kings-” Luke argues. “They want us to come back.”

“And some of the people want to stay.” Ashton counters. “All we want is a chance to make decisions about our own lives, now that the war is over.”

“Why would you want me as the leader?” Luke asks.

“Because you’re the right man for the job.” Ashton says softly, reaching out and taking Luke’s hand in his. “You were born to be great, Luke.”

 

“Your Majesties.” Luke says, saluting as he bows in front of the thrones. Niall sighs to Harry’s right, but over the last few weeks, he’s come to accept that there are certain formalities that are required of him, and, much to Harry’s relief, is learning to concede to them.

“Stand, Luke.” Harry tells him. “How are you?”

“I am fine, Your Majesty.” Luke mutters.

“And how goes the task that I’ve given you?” Harry asks.

“There are- Complications.” Luke says quietly. “If the four of us may have the room, I would be most grateful.”

“Of course.” Harry nods, dismissing the rest of the people in attendance with a wave of his hand. Once the four of them are left alone, Harry says, “Speak your mind, please.”

“I don’t know how to start.” Luke sighs.

“Luke, it’ll be easier for everyone if you just say whatever it is that you need to say.” Niall chuckles.

Luke takes a deep breath, and even though his face is determined, Harry can hear his heart beating furiously when he says, “Not everyone wishes to come back, Your Majesties.”

Luke’s heart is pounding, but there is no tremor in the rhythm that tells of deceit. “How many?” Harry asks.

“Around four thousand.” Luke admits. “Most of the people wish to return to Final- to Home- but some of us wish to carve out a new place for ourselves in the world.”

“You said ‘us’.” Niall points out. “Does that number include the two of you?”

“It does.” Ashton confirms.

“And who- Who would be in charge of the people there?” Harry questions, digging his claws into his palm to keep his heartbeat steady. Niall slips his fingers into Harry’s hand, prying his claws out, but achieving the same effect. “We cannot rule over two populaces during a time like this.”

“It’s him.” Niall says before Luke or Ashton can respond. “Luke, they chose you, didn’t they?”

“They did.” Luke nods.

“And you accepted.” Niall finishes for him.

“I said that I would only take the position if both of you agreed to let the populace make this split.” Luke answers.

“I- I will need time to think about this.” Harry sighs.

“I don’t.” Niall says, letting go of Harry’s hand and standing up. He walks down until he’s standing between Ashton and Luke, and says, “You have my approval. Harry is hesitant, so you’ll have to convince him, but I’m on your side.”

“Niall!” Harry groans. “Do you know nothing of diplomacy? You can’t just make decisions based on a whim.”

“This isn’t just a whim, Harry.” Niall counters. “Think about it. The war is over. What good will it do force four thousand people to come back here and try to resume lives that may not exist anymore?”

“I just don’t think that now is the time to split ourselves up.” Harry huffs.

“And when will be?” Niall asks. “They have the space now. They’ve already moved their things. It would be far less work to let them stay where they are, than to have them come back and wait until you’re ready. Not to mention that all the work we’ve already put towards making the facility self-sufficient would go to waste, and then have to be done all over again.”

“But-” Harry starts.

Niall is at his side in a flash, cupping Harry’s cheeks in his hands as he whispers, “This isn’t a reflection of your leadership, Harry. They just want to find a new path. They want to make their own choices. If you let them do this, it isn’t you failing as King. It’s you helping build a new life for your people.”

“You’re a good king.” Harry says softly.

“And so are you.” Niall returns. “Don’t be afraid of this new world. We’re all going to discover it together, whether we’re with each other or apart.”

“There will be conditions.” Harry says, turning to Luke. “For a while at least, you will not be sovereign.”

“None of us want that.” Luke assures him. “We’re still your people, and you’re still our Kings. We just want a new start. We want to see what the world has to offer.”

“We’ll work out the details as things progress, but for now, you may give people the option of staying in the facility, or coming back to Home.” Harry explains. “Once things are settled with the move, then we’ll be able to discuss expanding your role as regent. Until then, just do things the way you have been.”

“I- Thank you, Your Majesty.” Luke says, dropping to one knee and gripping his shoulder.

“Have you given a name to the facility yet?” Harry asks. “If it’s going to be a colony, then it needs a name.”

“I’ve been workshopping Niall-topia, but nobody seems to be biting.” Ashton muses.

“We decided that you two should name it.” Luke says, waving Ashton off.

“What do you think of ‘New Sanctum’?” Niall asks, looking at Harry.

“I think that you’ve read my mind.” Harry grins.

 

“And what are you up to?” Louis hums, ducking down and nipping at the back of Liam’s neck.

“Going through my personnel files.” Liam sighs. “I suppose you’ve heard all about New Sanctum?”

“I have.” Louis confirms, taking a seat on Liam’s desk.

“Then you know that Luke will be acting regent.” Liam continues. “Which also means that he won’t be taking the position of Chevalier. All- All of the candidates that I had in mind are either staying in New Sanctum, or they died in the Battle of London, or they’re parents.”

“Liam-” Louis says softly, tilting the other man’s chin up.

“Don’t, Louis.” Liam pleads.

“I have to.” Liam whispers. “Liam, you were meant to be Chevalier. Not Luke, not me, you.”

“No, I wasn’t.” Liam shakes his head, his voice high and choked off.

“I know the truth, Liam. I know that Harry offered you the job first.” Louis admits. “I’ve always known.”

“How?” Liam asks. “He promised never to tell you.”

“He didn’t.” Louis chuckles. “The thing is, no matter how much I wanted it, I wasn’t the one who was meant to be Chevalier. You are. You were always supposed to be Chevalier.”

“No!” Liam growls, pushing Louis away and jumping out of his chair to pace furiously. “No, I was never supposed to be Chevalier!”

“Why not?” Louis questions.

“Because I’m not good enough!” Liam hisses. “I’m not strong enough! I’m not smart enough! The people deserve better than me! They always have!”

“Don’t you dare say that!” Louis snarls, planting a firm slap on Liam’s cheek that makes him stop in his tracks.

“We both know it’s true, Louis.” Liam mutters.

“The only thing wrong with you is that you have so much doubt.” Louis murmurs, pulling Liam in close. “It clouds your vision and keeps you from seeing the truth. What is it going to take for you to believe me?”

“What is it going to take for you to admit that you’re wrong about me?” Liam fires back.

“You’d have to stop being you.” Louis says softly. “You’d have to stop being the man with so much compassion, with such a good heart, that I’ve admired since the night I found him sneaking out of the barracks to stare at the moon.”

“I’m not him anymore.” Liam mumbles, and then he’s gone. The window bangs open, but before it can even shatter, Liam has dispersed himself into the night, and Louis is left to wish that he could be the one to help Liam accept his destiny. Instead, he has to sit back and hope that Liam can find the answers he needs himself, before it’s too late.

 

It burns. It’s different than silver, more intense, more final. Good. That’s exactly what Liam is looking for. Of course, the universe has a funny way of responding to what Liam wants. Instead of letting him turn to ash, he finds himself being covered in something and dragged from what he’d chosen as his final resting place.

“What the bloody fuck do you think you were doing out there?” Lou asks when she’s managed to drag a struggling Liam inside her house and throw him in the storage cupboard.

“Dying!” Liam huffs.

“No shite.” Lou scowls.

“Let me out of here, Lou.” Liam sighs. “This is my choice.”

“Does anyone even know?” Lou asks. “Did you say goodbye to anyone? King Harry? King Niall? Louis? I know that you sure as hell didn’t say it to me or Lux.”

“They’d have tried to stop me.” Liam mutters.

“They deserve better than this, Liam.” Lou says, smacking him in the side of the head. “Don’t be a complete twat. If you’re going to leave us all behind, at least give us the chance to say goodbye. Let the people who love you have some closure.”

“You’re not going to try and stop me?” Liam questions.

“Liam, I know this has been hard for you.” Lou says gently. “I know that you never wanted to be made into a vampire, and that Luke staying in New Sanctum means that you’ve been saddled with a job that you don’t want, because you’re an idiot and don’t think you deserve it. But you’ve more than earned the right to choose what to do with your life- un-life- whatever. I may not approve of it, but it’s your choice, Liam.”

“You’re the first person who’s said that to me.” Liam mumbles. “You’re the first one not to make me feel guilty for not wanting this life.”

“That’s because I realize that you’re the only one who can make yourself choose to live.” Lou tells him. “After- After Tom died, I decided to kill myself. I felt like I’d lost everything. Tom was dead and I’d given up my position in the King’s Guard to have a pup. I wasn’t prepared to parent Lux alone, especially with the war still on. I decided that, because my life was effectively over, it might as well be literally over as well.”

“What made you change your mind?” Liam asks.

“When I was on my way to the highest tower of the castle, to jump, I felt something.” Lou admits. “When I grabbed the door handle, Lux kicked for the first time. She kicked, and she wouldn’t stop kicking. At first I cried, but then I started to laugh, because it was like she was fighting already, at only a few months after her conception. I realized that I wanted to see her grow up. I wanted to see my little fighter, and I couldn’t do that if I was dead.”

“I remember that night, when she first started kicking.” Liam hums. “You came up to my chambers and we spent all night discussing names and feeling her kick. You never told me about the rest.”

“Because I’d already decided to live.” Lou shrugs. “What was the point in dwelling on it after that decision was made?”

“I’m glad that you didn’t do it.” Liam says softly.

“I am too.” Lou chuckles. “Can you do me a favor?”

“I’m kind of stuck in here right now.” Liam points out.

“I know. I have to run out and do something, so can you just watch Lux until I get back?” Lou requests.

“Yeah.” Liam nods. “Might as well.”

“It won’t take long.” Lou assures him. “So don’t do anything until I get back. If you still insist on doing it, then you can do it then.”

“Alright.” Liam agrees. “I’m surprised that you’re willing to leave her with me though.”

“I trust you, Liam.” Lou smiles. “You’ve been like a father to Lux since she was born. I know that you’d never hurt her.”

“I wouldn’t.” Liam says firmly. “But I’m not always me, Lou. Ever since I died, I’ve had these blood-rages whenever I don’t eat for a while, and- And I haven’t eaten for a while. I thought I’d be dead by now. I don’t know if it’s safe to leave her with me.”

“I trust you, Liam.” Lou repeats, leaning over and giving Liam a soft peck on the cheek, accompanied by a hard punch to the shoulder. “I’ll be back soon.”

With that, she’s gone from the storage cupboard, a faint beam of sunlight falling on Liam’s skin and making him flinch away. He hears Lou shuffling around outside, waking Lux up and explaining to her that she’ll be back soon, and that someone is waiting for her in the cupboard, but that she’ll have to get inside real fast. They say their goodbyes, and then there’s the patter of tiny feet crossing the floor once the door closes.

“Chevalier!” Lux squeaks, throwing open the door. Liam jumps to the back of the cupboard, climbing the wall until he’s pressed into a corner away from the light. Lux’s face twists up and she closes the door behind herself quickly, mumbling out a guilty sounding, “Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, little one.” Liam says softly, dropping back to the ground and scooping her up in his arms when she starts to sniffle and cry.

“Mama told me that you’re a vampire now.” Lux murmurs.

“Are you afraid of me?” Liam asks her.

“No.” Lux says adamantly, her heartbeat steady. “I just missed you. You haven’t come to see me in a long time.”

“I’ve had much to do, little one.” Liam sighs, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “I’m sorry.”

“Your lips are cold.” Lux giggles, nuzzling into his neck. “Chevalier?”

“Yes, little one?” Liam hums.

“You’re my favorite.” Lux mumbles, curling her fingers in his shirt. “I know you’re not my dada, but you’re like one.”

“Lux-” Liam chokes out.

“I wish you were my dada.” Lux continues. “You’re so nice, and strong, and I love you.”

“I’m a vampire, Lux.” Liam mutters. “You don’t want me as a father.”

“Come here.” Lux hums, lifting up her head and squishing Liam’s cheeks between her hands. She crinkles her eyebrows in concentration, staring hard at each of Liam’s eyes over and over again. “Just what I thought.”

“What is?” Liam questions.

“They’re still the same.” Lux grins. “Your eyes are still the same, because you’re still the same. Your outsides changed, but your insides didn’t. You’re still my Chevalier.”

“Would you still have me as Chevalier, little one?” Liam asks. “Would you have a vampire as Chevalier?”

“I wouldn’t have anyone else.” Lux beams.

Oberon’s words replay in his head, ‘Liam, don’t give in to your doubts. Listen to Lux. It will keep you from a world of pain. She will save you, if you let her.’

“Lux, what would you say if I told you that I was going away, and I wouldn’t be coming back?” Liam asks, crouching down to set her on the ground and look her in the eyes.

“I’d miss you.” Lux whispers. “I don’t want you to go away, Chevalier. Why are you going away?”

“Because I changed.” Liam tells her. “Home is for lycans, and I’m not a lycan anymore.”

“But- You’re Chevalier.” Lux says, crinkling her eyebrows and pouting.

“Someone else will take my place.” Liam explains. “King Harry will find a new Chevalier.”

“No.” Lux huffs. “You’re the Chevalier.”

“I can’t stay as Chevalier, little one.” Liam sighs. “The Chevalier must be a-”

He’s cut off mid-sentence by something colliding with his cheek, the surprise of it knocking him back onto his bum. ‘Oh, and watch out for her right hook. She fights like her mother.’

“No!” Lux growls, her fangs bared and hands clenched into tight fists. “You’re the Chevalier! Nobody else can be Chevalier! It has to be you!”

“Why?” Liam asks, swallowing down a mouthful of his own flavorless blood. She really does fight like her mother.

“Because you’re my hero.” Lux chokes out around a sob, rushing forward and burying her face in Liam’s chest. “You’re my hero, Chevalier. Don’t go.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Liam says softly, holding her tight through her body-shaking cries. “I’m not going anywhere, little one. But you have to make me a promise, alright?”

“Okay.” Lux sniffles. “Anything.”

“Call me Liam from now on, okay?” Liam requests.

“Okay.” Lux agrees, nuzzling into Liam’s neck. “Why?”

“Because, little one-” Liam hums. “You’re my hero too.”

“If you kill him by accident, Niall, I’m going to eat you.” comes a familiar grumbling voice. Liam can already picture the scowl that goes with it.

“It’s worked on you, hasn’t it?” Niall returns. There’s a knock on the door, and then a timid voice calling out, “Liam?”

“In here, Your Majesty.” Liam laughs.

“Oi, I might have to deal with that shite when I’m sitting on the throne, but you know better than to call me that in private.” Niall mutters. “I’m coming in, alright?”

“There’s not a lot of space, and there’s already two of us in here.” Liam tells him.

“Well, as Harry, Luke, Ash, and yourself, love to remind me-” Niall sighs. “I’m relatively small.”

“He is.” Lux says, nodding along.

“Is that my Little Miss?” Niall laughs.

“It is!” Lux squeals. “King Niall, hi!”

“Hello.” Niall hums. “Little Miss, would you mind very much if I had a few quick minutes to talk to Liam alone?”

“Will you make me another special flower?” Lux bargains, making Liam stifle a chuckle into his hand.

“As many as you want.” Niall agrees.

“I’m going to get so many.” Lux whispers to Liam with a conspiratorial grin.

“I’ll make sure he carries through on that.” Liam nods. “Alright, she’s ready to make the switch. Come on in, but make it fast.”

In preparation for the sunlight that’s sure to stream in, Liam leaps up against the ceiling of the cupboard, curling in tight around himself in the corner to avoid it as much as he possibly can. It burns at the top of his head, but only for a fraction of a second. Niall is much more aware of these things than Lux is, having made the accommodations for Louis on their mission. Liam is immensely glad for it.

“Lou told us she found you out in the arena, waiting for the sun to rise.” Niall says quietly.

“She did.” Liam confirms. “And then she trapped me in a burlap sack and dragged me back here.”

“You weren’t at least going to say goodbye?” Niall asks, sitting down on the floor.

“I didn’t want to be stopped, and one of you would have tried.” Liam sighs.

“And yet, when Lou left to come get us, you stayed put in here, rather than going out and finishing the job.” Niall points out.

“She asked me to watch Lux for her.” Liam explains.

“You could have said no.” Niall argues.

“No I couldn’t.” Liam says, shaking his head. “Lux- When Lou was pregnant, her mate died. I had known Tom and Lou for years, had spent many nights with them in both friendship and as comrades in battle. I went with Tom on a mission that should have been easy, should have posed no problem for someone of our respective skill levels, but my mistake was letting him out of my sight.

“We got separated when a nest of twelve vampires turned out to be a cover for over forty. We were the only two there, and I lost him in the chaos. It was a hard battle, and in the end, I was the only one left standing. I found him buried under a wall that I had collapsed when I threw an enemy through a support beam. He was dead, and it was my fault.

“Since that night, I vowed to do whatever I could to protect Lou and their child, as penance for killing Tom. Lou said that she didn’t blame me, and she believed it, but I know that there’s no way that I can ever earn forgiveness for taking a father and mate away from them. I have spent every free moment that I can since that night making sure that Lux was being taken care of in every way that I could. I love her like my own flesh. There is nothing I would not do for her if asked. So no, Niall, I couldn’t have said that I wouldn’t watch her. The one thing that I still have left is my word, and I won’t break that, even if it’s just something small, like watching Lux for a few minutes.”

“You broke your word to me.” Niall breathes out. “You told me you’d be alright. You told me that you’d come back safe with Louis. I believed that I didn’t have to worry about you. I believed you, Liam. And then you died. You died, and it was my fault.”

“It was never your fault, Niall.” Liam says softly, dropping down to the ground and sitting beside the Halfling.

“If I had just paid attention.” Niall argues. “If I had remembered the other vans, then you’d still be alive. If I hadn’t fought those agents with non-lethal tactics, you’d still be alive. If I’d had enough energy to bring just one more person with us on the raid, then you’d have had a lookout and still be alive. If I’d fought my way out alone, instead of running back here for help like a child, then you’d still be alive. It’s my fault so many times over, Liam.”

“It’s not your fault, Niall.” Liam repeats, curling an arm around Niall’s shoulders and pulling him into a half-hug. “I promise you, it’s not.”

“How can you say that when you’re blaming yourself for Tom’s death?” Niall asks, mumbling the question into Liam’s chest.

“Because I made the simple mistake that led to my death.” Liam tells him. “I forgot, just for a moment, that I was in a war-zone. Every decision you made, you made with limited time and options while under extreme distress. I made the decision to bring Tom with me on a whim while safely tucked away in my study. I brought an expectant father with me on a mission with shaky intel, and assumed that we’d be alright. I was complacent. I don’t blame myself for what happened with the wall in the heat of combat. I blame myself for the decision I made before we even left. That is how I was responsible for Tom’s death.

“You’re a leader now, Niall. You’re going to have to accept that, sometimes, people under your command are going to die because of an order you gave. But, what happened to me- That wasn’t the same. I died because of a mistake I made, not one that you did. Sending me alone wasn’t the mistake. The mistake was me forgetting that I’d broadcasted my position to anyone with a radio, and staying to have a conversation that had no place being held on a mission. My mistake, not yours.”

“It was still my fault.” Niall mutters.

“Then how about this?” Liam says quietly. “I forgive you. I forgive you for any blame in my death.”

“But not in your resurrection.” Niall adds.

“Not yet, but I’m getting there.” Liam admits.

“Well it’s not like there’s a lot of time left.” Niall scoffs, wiping at his eyes.

“Yes there is.” Liam chuckles. “I have a very long road ahead of me. I have to train the next Chevalier.”

“You’ve picked someone then?” Niall questions.

“I have.” Liam nods. “Of course, they’ll need Harry’s approval, but I think he’ll agree.”

“Who is it?” Niall asks.

“A young lady with a very mean right hook.” Liam muses. “Now it’s my turn to ask a question. How is Louis here right now? The sun is up.”

“I- I’ve been working on a spell since everything with the Master.” Niall mumbles. “It’s not perfect yet, but I’m on my way to helping vampires walk in daylight permanently.”

“What?” Liam squawks. “How?”

“Something that Louis said got me thinking.” Niall starts. “My- The gold that I create is very different than naturally occurring gold. It vibrates more strongly on magical wave-lengths. Louis and I have been experimenting with it, and I discovered something while doing research. Gold is used in spells concerning sun deities. Now, we don’t really know whether or not those deities exist, but what we have discovered is that gold can magically affect sunlight. My gold even more so than normal.

“You see, magic is all about intention. You have to find the right wavelength of energy, and then use that to bring your intentions into the physical plane. Several things are important when casting a spell. Energy, first and foremost. The more energy you dedicate to a spell, the stronger the manifestation of your intention will be. Next is the wavelength that you pick. Certain ones reverberate with certain things more closely, and can increase the efficacy of a spell. I can make a fireball pretty much instantly, but I can increase the power of that by searching out a wavelength that matches the spell more closely, and that means that I will use less energy to cast it.

“Now, those are the two things that really matter in combat magic. There’s not a lot of time to find wavelengths, so doing that has to become more of an instinct. It’s something you have to be able to feel in the heat of the moment, because doing that means that you have more energy left to continue casting.

“When you’re outside of that though, you can work much more intricate spells. Spells with words, spells with materials, spells that are cast over a longer period of time- These can all make much more complex spells succeed. You can overlap things into it, and even make rules and restrictions. You can do things that shouldn’t be possible, because the laws of physics bend around these wavelengths of energy.

“We’re still working out the kinks, but right now, we have a trial version that appears to be working, seeing as Louis hasn’t stormed in here covered in flames. I’ve used my gold to make him a ring. What that ring does is manipulate sunlight around his body so that it never actually touches him. It’s like wearing a very thin, translucent piece of armor that cloaks his body and makes the sunlight bend around him.”

“That’s amazing.” Liam breathes out.

“I have one for you too, if you’d like it.” Niall offers, reaching into his bag and pulling out a simple golden band that he holds in the palm of his hand. “I’ve been trying since your birthday, because blood sorbet isn’t really a very good gift, and neither is cake that you can’t eat. I’m not very good at gifts.”

“I- I don’t know what to say.” Liam whispers, pulling the golden band onto his finger. It fits perfectly. Louis probably helped Niall size it.

“Say that, if you want to die, you’ll at least let the people who love you say goodbye.” Niall pleads quietly. “That you won’t just leave Louis, and Harry, and Lux, and Lou, and Ashton, and Luke, and all of the rest of us who love you, without a word.”

“I don’t want to die anymore.” Liam admits.

“Good.” Niall nods. “Because none of us want you to die either. Harry is in a strop back at the castle. I had to use my gold to bind him to the wall to keep him from coming down here.”

“Why did you stop him?” Liam asks.

“Because he would have done everything he could to stop you.” Niall answers. “And it’s not fair to force you to live a life that you don’t want, just to satisfy our love for you. I want you to stick around, want to have a chance to earn your forgiveness for everything, but all that matters is whether or not you’re happy, Liam. You have to make the choice to live, not have the option to die taken away from you. We did that once already, and it wasn’t right.”

“Thank you, Niall.” Liam mumbles, pulling Niall into a tight hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“Alright, how about we go test me and Louis’ little invention there?” Niall chuckles after a few minutes. “Because you’re going to get your scent all over me, and that means I have to deal with Harry getting all possessive and scrubbing the top layers of my skin off in the bath.”

“Will I feel it?” Liam asks, standing up with one arm still slung around Niall’s shoulders. “The sunlight, I mean.”

“No.” Niall admits. “But Louis says that if he closes his eyes, he can imagine it. If he could still cry, I think he would have. I’m sorry that I can’t make it so that you can feel it.”

“It’s okay.” Liam smiles. “I can pretend too, and that’s more than I ever really dreamed of getting to do again.”

 

“Do you miss it?” Harry asks softly, walking up behind Niall at the window looking down over the city.

“Not really.” Niall admits, looking down on the bustling streets, watching people rush from thing to thing because their lives are too short to take their time. “I miss music. I miss playing for audiences, and feeling them cheer for me. I miss going to any game I could score tickets to. I miss plumbing and electricity and the ability to just relax. But I don’t really miss my life from up here anymore. I didn’t even know it then, but my life was empty. It was empty, because I didn’t have you.”

“Will you ever forgive me for taking you away from all of this?” Harry asks.

“I forgave you a long time ago.” Niall hums, leaning back against Harry’s chest. “I can’t believe it’s only been a year here, since you took me.”

“A lot has happened.” Harry agrees. “You discovered you were fae, mated, became a king, spent over a year in Sídhe, fought the Master twice, saved the world, helped an empire take its first steps towards a new future, and you’ve almost completed a spell that will change the world as we know it for vampires and Home. It seems like a century’s worth of events, even to me.”

“You left a few things out.” Niall sighs. “Like all the people that I killed and got killed.”

“There has been loss, true.” Harry murmurs. “But there have also been great strides, Niall. You can’t carry all of those lives on your conscience forever.”

“I have to.” Niall mumbles. “Those lives remind me of why I do what I do. They push me to be a better man, and a better king.”

“Guilt will destroy you, Niall.” Harry says quietly, wrapping an arm around Niall’s waist as if to shield him from that very thing.

“It’s not guilt, Fuzzy.” Niall chuckles. “It’s penance. I want to honor the people who’ve died along the way.”

“Just don’t lose yourself in an attempt to do that.” Harry says softly, voice just on the edge of pleading.

“That’s what I’ve got you for, yeah?” Niall grins. “You’ll make sure I never get too deep into it to come back.”

“Of course.” Harry says firmly, gripping harder around Niall’s stomach and scraping his teeth over Niall’s bond-mark. “That’s part of the promise I made with this. I will always help guide you, help protect you, and stand at your side. No matter what foolish things you do to try and keep me out of harm’s way.”

“If you keep bringing that up all the time, then I’m going to find some more electrum and make you another collar.” Niall huffs. “Then I’ll whack you on the nose with a rolled up newspaper until you learn to obey.”

“A year later, and you still make dog jokes.” Harry groans, dropping his forehead onto Niall’s shoulder. “I’m starting to thing you want to try fucking me in my lupine-form.”

“Oh my god!” Niall cackles, turning around and swatting at Harry’s chest. “You’re horrid!”

“You’re the one who wants to collar me and teach me to obey your orders.” Harry muses, dancing across the hotel suite and out of Niall’s reach. Niall gives chase, darting and weaving after Harry until he finally gets the opportunity to lunge and tackle him around the chest, sending them both crashing to the floor. Harry smirks up at Niall from where the Halfling has him pinned. “See? I talk about you fucking my lupine form, and you try to jump my bones.”

“You’re an idiot.” Niall snorts.

“And you want to fuck a wolf.” Harry counters.

“I don’t want to fuck a wolf!” Niall groans. “I love you more than I could have ever imagined loving anyone, but I literally would not fuck either of your other forms to save my life.”

“What about to save mine?” Harry asks cockily.

“I’d let you die.” Niall grins. “Like a dog.”

“And what about them?” Harry asks, nodding towards his abdomen. “Would you do it for them?”

“Without a second thought.” Niall nods, shimmying his way down Harry’s body and pressing his lips over the lycan’s lower stomach. There’s not a bump yet, not even a heartbeat from the two little sesame seed sized bundles of life inside, but Niall can feel them under the kiss as surely as if they were already out. “Of course, I’d have to find a spell afterwards to block the whole thing out of my brain.”

“Oh, I see how it is.” Harry pouts, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Fuzzy, do you want me to say that I’d fuck you as a wolf?” Niall sighs.

“I’d like to know that you’d take me however I am.” Harry grumbles.

“Fine.” Niall grunts. “I’d fuck you as a wolf.”

“I knew it!” Harry cackles, hooking his leg around Niall’s side and flipping them over so that he’s on top and pinning the Halfling down. “I knew you wanted to fuck a wolf!”

“You’re the worst.” Niall huffs. “Get dressed. We’re teaching you to be human today.”

“Oh, but wouldn’t you rather I were a wolf?” Harry purrs, pressing himself along the length of Niall’s body.

“Do you want me to port out of here and leave you to get back to Home by yourself?” Niall asks with a scowl. “Because, I swear by the Moon, I will.”

“I could get back to Home from here.” Harry scoffs.

“No, Harry, you couldn’t.” Niall laughs. “You don’t know how to drive, how to get a taxi, how to buy an airplane ticket, or how to go through an airport. You don’t even know how to use a phone in order to call back to New Sanctum for help.”

“Is it really that complicated?” Harry asks.

“That was simplifying it for you.” Niall hums. “The human world is needlessly complicated, but you’d be particularly bad off here. You’ve never had to do anything for yourself. You have people to buy things for you, to drive you, to do everything that the common people have to do for themselves. And I know that’s so you don’t have to busy yourself with anything other than serving the people, but it means that everyday activities will be difficult for you.”

“Luckily I’ve got a common-person to help me learn it then.” Harry chuckles, lifting himself up and off of Niall.

“That’s it.” Niall huffs, opening up a portal to the side of him when he stands up. “Have fun navigating New York by yourself. I hope you figure out how a phone works, and soon.”

“No!” Harry whines, darting forward and latching onto Niall’s body. “I didn’t mean it! You’re not common!”

“Damn right, I’m not.” Niall smirks, letting the portal slip closed. “Now I’m serious, get dressed. Public nudity is a crime, and I’m walking out of this hotel in five minutes, with or without you. And if you think you can track my scent through this city, you’re in for a hell of a hunt.”

 

“No! Shit! Brake, Harry, brake!” Niall shouts, covering up his eyes. Harry slams his foot down on the other pedal, coming to a sudden halt. He’s unprepared for how quickly it happens, and he flies forward and slams his face into the steering wheel, bouncing off of it with a groan. “Bloody hell, Harry! Red means stop! How many times do I have to say it?”

“I was focusing on the other vehicles!” Harry snaps. “Maybe teaching me to drive in a city with eight million people wasn’t a bright idea!”

“I was hoping that the stop and go traffic would be a good way to get you started.” Niall sighs. “New York is generally more ‘stop’ than ‘go’.”

“Switch me places.” Harry grumbles.

“No. I believe you can do this, Harry.” Niall says softly. “I’ve seen you do some extraordinary things since we’ve met. I don’t think that driving is beyond your capabilities.”

“Those things are normal for a lycan.” Harry argues.

“Just drive, Harry. I’ll warn you if a light turns yellow.” Niall chuckles.

“How do humans cope with all of this stress?” Harry mutters going forward now that the light has turned back to green.

He drives cautiously, overly attentive to the movements of every other vehicle near him to the point that he nearly jumps out of his skin in surprise when a woman’s voice says, “In one more block, turn right.”

“It’s just the navigation, Fuzzy.” Niall giggles. “Calm down and follow her instructions. Do you remember how to signal your turn?”

“Yes.” Harry huffs, flipping the little stick near the wheel like Niall had taught him.

“That’s left.” Niall laughs, reaching over and moving the stick up. “Up is right, down is left.”

“Fucking complicated machine.” Harry grumbles, waiting until there’s an opening and turning down the street.

“There’s a space there.” Niall points out. “Go ahead and park.”

Harry does as instructed, easing into the spot that Niall indicated. The Halfling climbs out first to direct him in what he refers to as ‘parallel parking’. Basically, it amounts to Harry moving forward and back until Niall yelps and grabs onto the car hard enough to stop it from moving. “Someone is coming up behind you!” he hisses, forcing the car forward despite the fact that it’s in reverse at the moment.

“I didn’t see.” Harry sighs, shifting the car into neutral and just letting Niall finish adjusting the car with his own strength. “You’re driving back.”

“I think that’s probably for the best.” Niall chuckles. “We’ll port somewhere else and teach you somewhere easier, alright?”

“Why do I even need to know this?” Harry asks.

“Because it’s something humans know.” Niall muses. “Now check to make sure that no cars are coming, and get out.”

Harry is already on the verge of losing his patience from the drive, and Niall ordering him around really isn’t helping. He checks once in the mirror and then climbs out. Just as he closes the door, a car comes racing down the street. Harry hears Niall call out his name, but there’s nothing to worry about. Harry leaps out of the way easily, flipping backwards over the car and landing on the sidewalk next to Niall.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Niall hisses, smacking repeatedly at Harry’s arm. “Humans can’t just backflip over cars!”

“Would you rather I had let it hit me and try to explain why my wounds all healed?” Harry counters. “Not to mention the risk it would have posed to the twins.”

“I’d rather you look where you’re going when you’re standing in the middle of the street.” Niall mutters. “Come on. We’re going to get you dressed in something more suited to the surface.”

“Now you have a problem with my clothes?” Harry scoffs.

“No, but we don’t really fit in here.” Niall points out. “The reason I brought us to New York was that we wouldn’t stand out so much in the kind of clothes that we have on right now, because this city is full of weirdos, but if we’re going to be traveling around a bit, then it would be nice if we could blend in. Plus, it’s summer, and my trousers are made of leather. I want to wear t-shirts again, Harry. And shorts. And, oh god- Trainers. Shoes that don’t pinch my toes!”

“Calm yourself, Love.” Harry laughs, slinging an arm over Niall’s shoulder. “Your moaning over shoes is making my hackles rise in jealousy.”

“You’ll understand eventually.” Niall giggles. “Come on.”

He drags Harry into a large building with awnings that say ‘Saks’ on them. Immediately, Harry is hit with a wall of scents that nearly make him retch. “Sorry.” Niall murmurs quietly, leading Harry through an array of counters and stands that bar the direct path towards a set of moving staircases.

“Now, I wouldn’t normally shop somewhere so expensive except for special occasions, and then my stylist would bring me things direct from designers, but I have a feeling that you’ll prefer the finer things and want a variety to choose from.” Niall explains on their way up several floors. Harry doesn’t respond with any more than a nod of his head, trying to hold back a wave of nausea that could either be from the twins, or from the overwhelming number of fragrances that filter through the air. Luckily they dissipate by the time they reach the sixth floor, and Niall announces, “Here are the men’s clothes.”

“What are those?” Harry asks, immediately drawn towards plastic bodies covered in triangular patches of fabric over their hips. He rushes over to investigate, peering closely at the strange article. “Is this what you refer to as an ‘accessory’? Do you wear it outside of the trousers?”

“Harry!” Niall groans, grabbing ahold of the lycan’s wrist and tugging him around so that they’re facing each other. “First of all, don’t just run off. You move way too fast for a normal person. And second, if you want to know what something is, ask me quietly, because everybody else on earth knows what most of these things are, and you’re drawing attention by asking what underwear is.”

“That is the human version of underwear?” Harry asks, quietly and incredulously, his eyes locked on the minimal covering that the fabric provides. “What purpose does something that small even hold? Underwear is supposed to keep one warm.”

“Christ.” Niall mutters. “It’s for covering your junk, Harry.”

“Junk?” Harry questions. “You carry things in them? That seems uncomfortable.”

“Your genitals.” Niall sighs. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of your pants and socks and things like that. We’re here for other things.”

“I want those.” Harry says, pointing at a pair of triangular underwear that have a golden leaf-like pattern on them.

“You’re so lucky that I’m rich.” Niall mumbles, looking at a small card attached to the undergarments. “Fine, we’ll get you those.”

“How do you have access to your finances if the world thinks that you’re dead?” Harry asks, recalling the story that MI-Zero had leaked to the press about Niall disappearing to get some relief from the pressures of fame, and then dying in the mysterious attack on London after the population had been exposed to a dangerous drug by terrorists, having a similar effect on certain people as a drug called PCP. The story had been widely accepted, and it seemed a perfect way to cover up Niall’s permanent disappearance from the world.

“My mother helped create a new identity for me in case I visit the surface.” Niall mumbles. “She transferred my finances into an account under that persona. Officially, I’m now Niall Styles, and you’re my husband, Harry Styles. I’d like to think I took your name, rather than having parents that would name me Niall Styles.”

“Niall Styles.” Harry snorts.

“Yeah, if your people had surnames, it would be a lot easier.” Niall huffs. “We could have just gone with that.”

“My mother had a surname.” Harry offers.

“What was it?” Niall asks.

“Cox.” Harry tells him.

“Yeah, I’d rather go with Styles.” Niall laughs, shaking his head.

“Don’t insult my mother.” Harry huffs.

“I’m not.” Niall says with a soft smile. “I’d just rather not be married to a man and have the last name Cox. Someone will crack a joke about it and I’ll end up breaking something by accident. Like their sternum.”

“Such a feisty little fae.” Harry chuckles.

“Halfling.” Niall grumbles. “Come on. Let’s go look at some jeans for you.”

Ten minutes later, Niall is bent over, sorting through a pile of what he calls ‘jeans’, searching for a size of one design that will fit Harry. He smells it suddenly, the strong, unmistakable scent of arousal. Amused, he takes a look around until he finds a man a few feet away, staring at Niall’s bum like it’s a buffet. He growls, low and rumbling, starting from his chest, fangs threatening to drop any second.

“Harry!” Niall yelps, jumping up and turning around.

“He’s staring at you.” Harry snarls, stepping between the man and Niall, his shoulders squared and his hands clenched into fists. The man backs away slowly, fear replacing his arousal instantly, until he’s practically fleeing to the moving staircases.

“I don’t care!” Niall says sharply, turning Harry around by the shoulder. “This isn’t Home. Humans don’t act like that unless they want to be arrested. I know it’s gross, and disrespectful, but if someone wants to leer at someone else, there’s nothing you can really do about it. People. Don’t. Growl!”

“Fine.” Harry sighs. “It’s going to take time for me to adjust to this world, Niall. I’ve been doing things a certain way for over three hundred years. You can’t expect me to make a complete turnaround in one afternoon. Especially when someone wants to have sex with my mate while I’m carrying your pups.”

“Just, please, try and ignore it.” Niall pleads softly. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else wants from me. I’m yours.”

“And I’m yours.” Harry hums, leaning down to connect their lips in a tender kiss. Niall leans into it at first, but quickly pulls back with a gasp. Harry huffs and asks, “Let me guess, humans don’t do that in public?”

“No, that’s not it.” Niall says, stepping forward again with his palm spread over Harry’s stomach. “I mean, it’s generally frowned upon, but that’s not why. They just- I felt their heartbeats start up. It was- It was amazing. They’re really alive now. It’s real now.”

“It’s been real, Niall.” Harry says gently. “It’s always been real. Oberon told us- Well, he told me, since you were unconscious at the time- that the twins would be born. From before we even decided to do this, it’s been real.”

“After last time, I’ve just been so scared.” Niall whispers. “I don’t want to lose them. Not like- Like-”

“I know, Love.” Harry murmurs, pressing a kiss to Niall’s forehead. “It’s not going to happen again.”

“I don’t want to lose any of you.” Niall says, curling his fingers into Harry’s shirt.

“You won’t.” Harry tells him. “Now, let me try on those trousers before I’m too fat to fit in them.”

 

“How’s your first day on the job treating you?” Ashton asks, kicking his feet up onto the desk.

“I hate them for leaving already.” Liam huffs, not bothering looking up from where he’s scrawling out his signature repeatedly on a document. “Can you believe this? A vampire in charge of Home. If I wasn’t already dead, I’d die.”

“You’re such a grumpy old sod.” Ashton chuckles.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in New Sanctum?” Liam asks harshly, looking up with a glare.

“Not at the moment.” Ashton grins. “I’ve been sent over on a diplomatic mission.”

“A diplomatic mission to your mother-city?” Liam scoffs.

“Yes.” Ashton nods.

“And what would that be?” Liam asks.

“To keep you from stressing out and taking off that ring.” Ashton hums.

“I’m not going to kill myself.” Liam grumbles. “I’m past that now.”

“Doesn’t matter what you say. I’ve been ordered by a king to keep an eye on you.” Ashton muses. “Or, more accurately, to keep you from getting so lost in your own head that you forget to enjoy your un-life.”

“There’s too much to-” Liam starts, but Ashton isn’t listening to it. Niall gave him strict instructions to keep Liam from getting in over his head, and Ashton plans on keeping to that.

“I know for a fact that Niall spent a week preparing for this trip by doing everything he could possibly take care of ahead of time. You’re just trying to do all of what they left you right from the get-go.” Ashton cuts him off. “You have a month to get all of this done, and you don’t need to spend more than a few hours a day doing it.”

“What else would I be doing?” Liam asks, rolling his eyes. “Louis is on a mission with MI-Zero, helping them track down a cell of loyalist vampires. Harry and Niall are cavorting around on the surface. Lux is beginning her education. Lou is helping soldiers who want to retire to transition from the military. You and Luke are in New Sanctum. It’s not like I have a lot of people I’m close to anymore, Ash. At least if I’m working, then I don’t care if I’m lonely.”

“Come on.” Ashton smirks. He’s just been waiting for Liam to tell the truth about being lonely. He’d fully expected to have to wait for days for that to happen. Maybe Niall is right, and Liam really is changing. He’s been stubborn for as long as Ashton has known him, never lets anyone see any emotions that he has, and it’s only gotten worse since his death. Ashton knows that Liam talks to Niall about these things, that he finds him in the middle of the night and wakes him up just to talk if he needs it, but he probably doesn’t do it with anyone else. Ashton’s not even sure how Niall managed to wiggle his way in past Liam’s defenses, but he’s not surprised. Niall does that with everyone, it seems.

“Ashton-” Liam sighs.

“I have been given full permission to order you to follow me if I find it necessary.” Ashton tells him. “Niall gave me free rein on how I handle things with you, Liam.”

“I don’t need a fucking babysitter!” Liam spits out, slamming his hands flat against the desk.

“No, you don’t.” Ashton agrees. “You need a friend. I know that you’d probably prefer Luke, since you two always got along better, but he’s kind of busy running New Sanctum, so you’re stuck with me.”

“Can I at least finish what I’m working on?” Liam requests, his shoulders drooping.

“You have five minutes, and then I expect you to meet me at the front gates.” Ashton laughs, standing up from his seat. “Niall, Louis, and I have been working on something specifically for you.”

“Five minutes.” Liam confirms, eyes already locked back on his task as he reads another document. Ashton is so glad that he never had any designs on a position of political power. Between what he’s seen from Harry, Niall, Luke, and Liam, it seems far too boring.

He makes his way out to the front gate, making idle chit-chat with the people he sees along the way. He only ends up having to wait twenty minutes before Liam shows up with a sheepish smile and an apology. Ashton had prepared to give it an hour before he dragged Liam outside. He’s not expecting miracles here. “What’s that?” Liam asks once they start walking, gesturing to the bag that Ashton is carrying.

“You’ll see soon enough.” Ashton hums. He doesn’t want to give the surprise away.

“Okay.” Liam shrugs.

“Did you ever serve in espionage?” Ashton asks as they walk.

“Off and on.” Liam nods. “I wasn’t very good at it though. I prefer direct tactics, and espionage is all about finding the longest, most discrete route to an end goal. I’m also not very good at lying.”

“No, I don’t suppose you are.” Ashton chuckles. “You know, the night that I decided to take the position in espionage, Louis made a comment about how Luke was a miniature version of you. He’s never been suited to espionage either.”

“Luke isn’t a miniature anything.” Liam chuckles.

“Not anymore.” Ashton grins. “He was then, though. He was smaller growing up than you’d expect from him now. He was all gangly with these long arms and legs that had no fucking grace at all. And his smile took up half his face. I never told him, but I always thought it was the most beautiful thing, even before I fell in love with him. He had this messy mop of hair that wouldn’t lay down, and he ran into literally everything, but he always had a big smile on. He wore his heart on his sleeve, so I told him not to follow me into espionage, because it would wind up getting him killed.”

“The first time that Louis heard I had been assigned to a mission with espionage, he stormed into Harry’s room and literally pulled him off of, and out of, Zayn just to yell at him.” Liam says, his eyes glazed over like his mind is far away from where he’s walking next to Ashton. “We weren’t even together yet. I didn’t know about him doing that until years later when I was talking to Zayn one night.”

“That sounds about right for Louis.” Ashton muses.

“He had no sense of self-preservation.” Liam laughs. “Interrupting the prince in the middle of things just to have a screaming match with him over a member of his own guard. Zayn actually finished it for them both by picking Louis up and throwing him out of the room. It’s funny, because he was always a really docile individual, particularly for a lycan, but Louis could always get a rise out of him.”

“He can get a rise out of pretty much anyone.” Ashton snorts. “Getting one out of you or Luke isn’t particularly hard, since you’re both so high-strung. He can get one out of Niall and me though, and that’s impressive.”

“I seem to remember getting a pretty big rise out of you myself.” Liam points out.

“You were eating my mate.” Ashton counters.

“Just a little snack.” Liam grins.

“How are you feeding now that Niall and Louis are gone?” Ashton asks.

“Maura has regular deliveries sent down from blood banks, and Niall has created a box that contains eternal ice, which keeps it from going bad.” Liam explains. “It’s not ideal, cold blood tastes terrible, but it keeps me under control well enough.”

“And your blood-rages?” Ashton asks.

“I haven’t had one in ages.” Liam tells him. “I’ve learned to control the hunger. It took us ages to figure out why I seemed to be hungry more often than normal vampires, and why my blood rages occurred more often. It turns out that being bonded as Chevalier to Harry, and not having the bond suppressed magically, makes me metabolize the energy faster. Human blood, ironically, metabolizes more slowly than the blood of anything supernatural, so as long as I stick to that, and eat a bit more frequently, then I’m fine. Blood-rage free for the last six months in fact.”

“Have you eaten recently?” Ashton questions.

“Yes!” Liam groans exasperatedly. “Are you asking me all of this because you’re my friend, or because you’re my babysitter?”

“Neither.” Ashton hums, swinging open the gate to the coliseum now that they’ve reached it. “Just wanted to make sure you had the energy to fool around for a while without going all ballistic on our arses.”

“Our?” Liam asks.

“Yeah, there’s quite a few of us in here.” Ashton smiles. “Niall said that there should be eighteen total if we wanted to play more than just a pickup game.”

“I’m still confused.” Liam sighs.

“Niall, Louis, and I, have been working on adding some extra features to the coliseum.” Ashton explains. “Nothing permanent, mind you. Nothing blasphemous to our history. You see, since we have a bit of leisure time, Niall thought it would be fun to watch lycans play footy.”

“You turned a place of honor into a football pitch?” Liam asks.

“Well, it’s actually a bit larger than a regulation pitch, since we move faster.” Ashton tells him. “We’ve put a lot of work into figuring out how to make it a bit fairer based on our physical abilities. The pitch is larger, and the goals are significantly smaller, and then there’s this.”

He crouches down and unfastens his bag, pulling out a thick golden orb roughly the size of a football. It’s actually a bit larger, but not significantly. “Niall spent days working all of this out. He’s very dedicated to footy.” Ashton laughs. “Both the ball, and the net, are made out of his gold. They’ve set limitations on it, so that he can’t control it anymore, and so that the nets can actually contain the ball, rather than it just breaking through. It took them a week to get it right.”

“So, you asked me to stop doing work on ruling Home, because you want me to watch you play football?” Liam asks incredulously.

“No, we want you to play with us.” Ashton grins. “I can’t remember the last time I actually saw you have fun, Liam. Before the war ended, you obviously didn’t have time to relax. And then you became a vampire, which made you really pissy. I don’t even know if it’s possible, but I’m pretty sure that you’re going to give yourself an aneurysm if you keep trying to do everything without ever taking any time for yourself. Your stress levels are so high, that I can practically feel it seeping into my pores.”

“I’m trying to rule two kingdoms!” Liam hisses.

“So are Niall and Harry most of the time, and yet they know how to take a break and relax.” Ashton counters. “They also know that they have to do it, or they’ll have a mental breakdown. Liam, you’re my friend, and I care about you. Can’t you just trust that I know what I’m doing, and I only want what’s best for you?”

“Fine.” Liam huffs. “But I want to be the goal keeper.”

“I think that can be arranged.” Ashton laughs.

 

Niall doesn’t know what’s worse, Harry’s taste in clothing, or the fact that he keeps slipping up and saying things that really aren’t even remotely humanlike. Luckily, people think he’s joking, but he’s giving Niall a migraine. It’s when he tells the salesgirl that he’d like a waist size a bit higher on a pair of jeans so that he has room for the pregnancy bump to grow that Niall decides to bring the shopping trip to an end. The salesgirl thinks it’s funny, giggling into her hand like Harry is a comedian, rather than a stubbornly inhuman pain in Niall’s ass.

“Come on.” Niall huffs, grabbing Harry around the wrist and carrying all of their clothes up towards the counter. The salesgirl tried to hold them all, but there’s a lot of them, and no human could really be expected to hold that much. “You’re doing this all on purpose, aren’t you?”

“No.” Harry says with a pout. “I keep forgetting that it’s a lycan trait. It’s difficult to remember what all humans aren’t capable of.”

“I’m sure.” Niall scoffs. “Here’s a pro-tip in acting like a human. Stop talking about humans like you aren’t one. At least in public. You’re lucky everyone here wants your dick too badly to actually pay any attention to how weird you’re acting.”

“Jealous?” Harry asks with a smirk.

“Not enough to growl at people.” Niall mutters, dropping his card on the counter. “You do hotel delivery, yeah?”

“We do.” the salesgirl confirms. “If you just fill out this sheet with the information, we’ll have it sent right over.”

“Thanks, love.” Niall says offhandedly, taking the paper. Harry’s grip on his waist tightens, and he feels himself being wheeled around to face a very disgruntled looking Harry. “Something I can help you with?”

“Don’t call anyone else that.” Harry says, his eyes flashing possessively.

“Relax, Fuzzy.” Niall snorts. “It’s just a thing for people from the UK and Ireland. We call everybody ‘love’.”

“Don’t.” Harry repeats.

“Fine.” Niall chuckles. “If you stop mentioning the twins to people. Eventually someone is going to take you seriously, and that’s going to be a real problem.”

“Don’t want everyone to know I’m carrying your pups?” Harry asks, a wicked grin.

“No, I don’t.” Niall sighs. “Because men can’t get pregnant up here. And they’re called babies on the surface, if you insist on talking about them.”

“They won’t be babies though.” Harry argues. “They’ll either be pups, or Halflings.”

“Or hybrids.” Niall giggles.

“No. Don’t say that.” Harry says, giving a shiver. “The instincts and sense of a lycan mixed with the abilities of the fae would be a recipe for disaster. We won’t make it through the first year with two of them.”

“We have a castle full of servants.” Niall points out.

“Niall, Edward was just a normal pup, and I had two caretakers quit and join the army rather than deal with him.” Harry explains. “My children tend to be- rambunctious.”

“We’ll manage.” Niall shrugs.

“You say that now.” Harry mutters ominously, giving another shiver and releasing his grip on Niall. “I have a question.”

“What is it?” Niall asks.

“If the clothes are sent back, are we going to keep wearing these?” Harry asks, looking down at his outfit.

“No. Go ahead and pick out your favorite outfit. I’ll have her send back our clothes, and we can wear the new stuff out of the store.” Niall tells him, filling out the form with their hotel, room number, name, and other such things. Harry sorts through the clothes, picking out a sheer black shirt with red flowers patterned across it, and a pair of jeans, along with a pair of leather boots that had drawn him in from across the room. Niall makes sure to shove a pair of underwear and a pair of socks into his hands before pointing him off towards the changing areas and telling him to call for him if he needs help.

“Your boyfriend is cute.” the salesgirl says with a blush.

“Husband, actually.” Niall informs her off-handedly.

“Oh! I uh- I didn’t realize.” she stammers. “I didn’t see a ring.”

“Where we live, wedding rings aren’t really a thing.” Niall chuckles. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you look like Niall Horan?” she asks, folding up the clothes that Harry left behind while Niall sorts through for an outfit of his own.

“That singer that died?” Niall asks, doing his best to keep a straight face. “Nope. We have the same first name though.”

“What a coincidence.” she hums.

“What a coincidence.” Niall agrees. “We’ll be back with our clothes in a minute. Thank you for all your help.”

“Of course, Mr. Styles.” she replies, voice chipper and eyes satisfied with the massive commission she’s just made. It’s a good thing that Niall doesn’t really need his money for too many things anymore, because he just spent a bunch of it.

He heads back to where he’d directed Harry and manages to change into his own tight pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt before Harry gets out. It’s not a fancy look, considering what he’d spent on it, but it is insanely comfortable. He sighs in satisfaction of the trainers on his feet from the sportswear section, and relishing the feeling of having socks on again that aren’t so bloody warm because they aren’t made of wool.

Harry steps out of the dressing room a few moments after Niall does, and his eyes almost pop out of his head. He knew Harry had picked some tight jeans, but these look painted on. They hug his calves and thighs, clinging so tight to his bulge and ass that Niall can feel himself swelling in his own jeans. His shirt is untucked, hanging loosely off of his shoulders because he’s only done it up halfway. It should look ridiculous, but it really doesn’t. It looks amazing.

Harry huffs and mutters, “These fasteners make no sense. Leather cording is far less complicated.”

“They’re called buttons.” Niall tells him.

“They’re stupid.” Harry grumbles. “How do I look? Human?”

“Bloody fantastic.” Niall admits. “Most people do up all of the buttons, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that it doesn’t really matter with your body.”

“Excellent.” Harry smirks. “Now settle yourself. It took too much effort trying to get these trousers on. They’re not coming off again until tonight.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Niall hums, turning back towards the counter where the girl is waiting for their clothes. “Let’s just hope I can’t add another pup into you, yeah?”

 

“They’re going to make a move tonight.” Louis says, dropping into the chair and sliding on his ring. The sun will be rising shortly, and Louis had barely gotten away from the nest after everyone else had gone to ground in time to get back to where Maura has his ring. He can’t wear it around other vampires because it puts off an incredibly strong magical aura that interferes with his glamour, not to mention would attract questions, but he hates staying in a coffin for the day when he can use the ring and sleep next to an open window. He may not actually be able to feel the sunlight, but he can see the glow of it behind his eyelids, and that’s a comfort that almost nothing else can even begin to compare to.

“Tonight?” Maura asks, rubbing at her temples.

“Yes, Maura, tonight.” Louis snaps. “If you’d listened to me and pulled your soldiers back, then the timetable wouldn’t have been pushed forward. But they know you’re onto them now, so they decided to attack before you can stop them.”

“You told me to pull out, and then your earpiece went dead!” Maura counters. “Procedure dictates an extraction when comms are lost, not abandonment.”

“Do you really think I need your help?” Louis sneers. “Do you think I need half a dozen pitiful little men and women in uniform, whom I could take out with my eyes closed, as backup?”

“Louis-” Maura says cautiously, reaching for her sidearm.

“I’m sorry.” Louis sighs, sagging against the chair and taking the newly-warmed bottle of blood that one of the commandos (Marvin, Louis thinks, though he isn’t sure. He hasn’t bothered to get to know most of the MI-Zero agents) hands off to him. “It’s that fucking nest. The longer a large group of vampires are together, the more feral we get, and they were already pretty wild before I even got there. It’s taking a lot to resist it.”

“Do we need to pull you out?” Maura asks.

“No.” Louis says firmly. “The attack is tonight, but they haven’t told me, or almost anyone else in the nest, what the target is. I have to go with them, or we won’t know where they’re heading.”

“They work like terrorists.” Maura mutters.

“They’re worse than terrorists though.” Louis says quietly. “Far worse. Terrorists just want to scare people, want to gain power over them through their fear. This nest wants to make a real display. They don’t believe that the Master was really slain, so they want to draw him out of hiding with a big act. I think they’re going to head to Ten Downing. That or Buckingham. You need to have both evacuated.”

“Humes, get on the horn and order both evacs.” Maura commands. “Can you think of any other targets?”

“Not within the UK.” Louis tells her. “Are there any major events taking place tonight? Anything that would get worldwide coverage?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” Maura says, shaking her head.

“There’s always Home, but I don’t think they’re that stupid.” Louis shrugs. “There’s over a hundred of them in this nest, but that’s not enough to try an attack on Home.”

“Go rest.” Maura tells him. “We’ll drop you off in front of the building around sunset.”

“An earpiece isn’t going to cut it tonight.” Louis tells her. “You need to pick someone, and I’m going to share a drop of my blood with them. If I have to speak out loud to warn you about the location, then one of the others will hear it. I’m good, but I can’t take on that entire nest by myself. I’m no Niall.”

“You’ve done good work, Louis.” Maura says, the corner of her lips giving the slightest of twitches, like she wants to give him a smile. She won’t though. All of these humans are still nervous about showing anything less that complete stoicism and preparedness around him, like he’ll jump and devour them if they show any signs of weakness. Still, he’d rather be out on missions than sitting in on ministry meetings with a silver collar on, explaining anything and everything that anyone could have to ask him, even if the people he’s been working with for the better part of a year don’t trust him any more than they did on his first day.

“I always do good work, Maura.” Louis returns with a smirk. “If you’d like to escort me to my bed, I could prove that to you.”

Maura catches Louis off-guard with a laugh, loud and unabashed, just like her son. “Don’t you get cheeky with me.” she chides, eyes sparkling with amusement. “You look as young as my son, even if you are ancient.”

“Ah, but you see, that’s the perfect mix.” Louis grins, pressing his luck because there’s no one around to overhear his playful banter with Maura. “All the vigor and tightness of a twenty-something, with the experience of three hundred years, give or take a decade, of sexual activity. I could do things to you that you’ve never even imagined, Maura.”

“Back at you.” Maura says with a wink. “Now get out of here and go sleep. We need you at your best tonight.”

“Feel free to join me if you like.” Louis grins, standing up and heading back towards the room that he’s been using at every opportunity he has. He can’t often get away from the nest, can’t afford to get caught sneaking out so close to dawn, but when he can get away, he gets to sleep in the sunlight.

He crawls into the bed, relishing the light that’s flooding the room from the small window. It’s been months since Niall and he created the rings, but every time that he gets to sit or lay or stand or be, in the sunlight, it still fills him with a rush of excitement that he can barely contain. For a quarter of a century, he’s been stuck in the dark with no hopes of ever returning to the light. For the rest of his un-life, he’ll always be grateful to Niall for letting him walk in the sun.

Even with the comfort of the sun, sleep doesn’t come to him. He’s hyperaware of the danger that he’s facing tonight, of the fact that if he’s miscalculated on the objective of the nest’s objective, he’ll be alone against over a hundred angry, powerful vampires until MI-Zero can intervene. It doesn’t look good for him. He could have brought Liam along, was given the option so that he wouldn’t have to infiltrate the nest alone almost three months ago, but he refused to let Liam anywhere near this kind of danger, or the feral influence of nesting.

“So, who’s getting my blood?” Louis asks, walking into the control room with another bottle of blood to try to top off his energy reserves.

“I am.” Maura tells him. “But don’t you project any cheeky thoughts into my head. I’ve got a pair of silver-knuckles, and I’m not afraid to get you with them.”

“You have my word.” Louis chuckles.

“Whatever that’s worth.” Humes mutters under his breath.

“Watch it, tin soldier.” Louis hums. “You should keep thoughts like that in your head. Vampires don’t take insults lightly, and to question my honor is the worst one you could make.”

“And I’ll not have it.” Maura says firmly. “Niall trusts Louis, which means that I do too.”

“Niall is no more human than this one is.” Humes argues, jabbing his thumb at Louis.

“You’re actually wrong there.” Louis smirks. “Niall is a Halfling, which means that he’s still half human. I, on the other hand, was born a lycan, and made vampire. I have never been human. If you’re going to be in an elite supernatural combat unit, you should probably know the difference between species, Humes.”

“I know what I need to know to kill the different species. Anything beyond that is irrelevant.” Humes counters.

“You’re so wrong there.” Louis muses, crossing the distance between him and Marvin in a flash, popping up behind him and forcing him to his knees with a hand wrapped around his throat. “You see, even as a Halfling, Niall is a being of life. That means he won’t kill you unless it’s to defend someone else. I have no such qualms. Make threats like that again, especially one that I could take as being against Niall, and I’ll show you that what you really need to know about the different species- is how we’ll kill you.”

“Louis!” Maura says sharply. “Release him!”

“I’ll not brook a threat against my King.” Louis growls. “Nor should you allow him to speak against Niall like this.”

“He’s allowed to have his opinions, as long as he doesn’t make any moves against our allies.” Maura sighs.

“Whatever.” Louis mutters, pushing Humes to the floor. “Let’s just get on with things then.”

He strides back over, using a claw to prick open the end of his finger and offers it to her. “We’ve wasted enough time. The sun will set soon, and I need to be back before they all wake up and realize that I’ve been gone, or they’ll tear me to pieces and you’ll have no way of knowing their target before they strike.”

“Do I just-” Maura asks cautiously, eyeing the blood on the tip of Louis’ finger.

“Once you swallow it, I’ll be able to talk to you mentally. One drop is more than enough, but I need you to do it before I heal, or my body will reabsorb it.” Louis explains. Maura wipes up the drop of blood with her own finger and then sucks that into her mouth. Louis gives it a second to take effect, and then mentally asks, “Can you hear me?”

“I can.” Maura replies through the connection.

“Excellent.” Louis nods. “Then we’d best shuttle me off. I’ll do my best to keep my thoughts to myself unless I’m relaying information. It can be a bit difficult though, because I have to concentrate on it, and other things may take up more of my attention.”

“As long as you aren’t thinking anything too horrible, I don’t mind.” Maura chuckles.

“I might once the fighting starts.” Louis admits. “I can get a bit- caught up.”

“I know the feeling.” Maura says quietly. “Take care of yourself, Louis.”

“That’s what I do best.” Louis mutters, striding out the door with the guards who usually escort him. They’ve never spoken to him before, and this time is no exception. They drive silently for the few minutes it takes to get back to the building that houses the nest. Louis slips off the ring, hands it off to the driver, and rushes towards the door. The sun hasn’t quite set yet, so the quick dash leaves his skin burning.

He makes his way inside silently, cautiously avoiding making the slightest sound that could wake up another vampire and give him away. There are multiple subbasements, and Louis is lucky that his coffin (because the vampires of this nest are so clichéd that they should all speak with Romanian accents) is stored on the first. He perches himself on top of it, something that he’s made sure to let other members of the nest see him doing many times before. Louis is a master at the game of infiltration, and, as such, he plans many moves in advance. This is just one more way that he’s assured that he won’t be caught for sneaking out, because nobody will overhear him trying to climb back into the coffin.

“William.” a low voice says from the stairs that lead to the lower levels. Louis turns his head in response, reacting instinctively to the alias that they call him by here. Stan, the de-facto leader of the nest, strides towards him. “You’re up early.”

“I can never sleep before a good feast.” Louis returns, sporting a wicked grin. “You’ve promised me more blood than I could drink in a year. I hope you haven’t been lying to me.”

“Never, pet.” Stan purrs, running his fingers through Louis’ hair. “Tonight I’ll watch you dance in a rain of blood, and then fuck you on top of the carcasses.”

It takes everything Louis has in him not to shiver at the thought. Placing himself as a confidant in a nest this closely guarded was never realistic, not when he had so little time to work with. Seducing the leader was another matter all-together. Stan was an easy mark, new to power and easy to please. Louis asserted himself into the man’s bed easily, appealing to the new leader’s swollen vanity, and earned himself a spot of unquestioned loyalty. He’d had to fake his way through dozens of sexual sessions with the pitiful man, yowling and panting like Stan wasn’t one of the worst lays he’d ever had, but it’s been worth it, because he knows this one doesn’t suspect a thing.

“Promises, promises.” Louis hums, smirking playfully as he switches positions to straddle over the coffin. “I bet you say that to all the boys.”

“I always keep my promises, pet.” Stan muses. “Wake the others. We leave as soon as everyone is up.”

“Yes, sir.” Louis flirts, knowing how much Stan likes to be reminded of his dominating position. Honestly, he’s so dense. Louis feels almost guilty taking advantage of someone so easy to manipulate.

He makes the rounds, lifting the lids off of each of the coffins and waking their residents. The room is buzzing with an excited energy by the time that Louis finishes, making his stomach knot nervously. MI-Zero doesn’t stand a chance against this many vampires. They’ve got lycans from both New Sanctum and Home among their ranks now, soldiers who found themselves lost without a war to fight, but Louis doesn’t know if they’re going to be deployed in time to stop a slaughter.

Stan leads everybody to the exit, saying nothing to his troops before he bursts into mist. It doesn’t make a difference. None of these vampires need more reason to be excited. They know that they’re going to get to kill, and that’s all they want. They all quickly follow suit, racing into the night as mist.

He expects for the group to take off to the east, but that’s quickly put out of his mind when they head northwest instead. Once they pass outside of London, Louis realizes his mistake, and it’s confirmed as more clouds of mist join them on the journey. He’d expected the target to be part of the human world, but there’s only one place they could be headed now. He opens up the connection to Maura, trying his best to keep his panic quelled as he tells her, “Maura, the target isn’t anything I thought. It’s New Sanctum.”

 

“Please work, please work, please work.” Luke begs quietly, opening the box that he’d been given for emergencies like this one. He pulls out a golden hand mirror and holds it up to his face. He’s not reflected back, but instead sees the inside of a fancy looking bathroom. The person he’s looking for is nowhere in sight, so he tentatively calls out, “Niall?”

He repeats it a few times, voice growing louder each time. The Halfling comes into his vision a moment later, rumpled and frustrated looking. “This had better be really fucking important, Luke.” he grits out.

“New Sanctum is about to be attacked by what appears to be almost one thousand vampires.” Luke rushes out.

“Well, fuck.” Niall sighs. “How do you know?”

“The cell that Louis infiltrated was apparently part of a larger network.” Luke explains. “MI-Zero isn’t prepared for something like this. Hell, New Sanctum isn’t ready for something like this. Most of our residents are werewolves, servants, or tradesmen. I have maybe three hundred warriors, and none of them are ready to be deployed. We don’t have time. They’ll be here in a matter of minutes.”

“I’ll be there before them.” Niall tells him. “Do you have the preparations made that I asked you to do?”

“Of course.” Luke nods.

“Give me two minutes.” Niall orders. “And keep all of your residents inside the facility. I’ll handle everything.”

Luke doesn’t have a chance to argue before his own face is filling the mirror. He gives Calum the order to have everyone go to defensive protocols. New Sanctum was built as a prison, but it functions just as well as a fortress. The entire campus is reinforced with silver shutters. The alarms go off, and Luke has to struggle to make his way out through the front entrance to the main building while the residents who run the farms make their ways inside.

Once he’s outside, it’s easier to navigate through the crowd towards the edge of the property where Niall’s defenses are placed. He reaches the boundaries just as a bright flash signals Niall’s arrival. There’s a very pissed off looking King Harry next to him, arguing loudly with a shouted, “I’m pregnant, not an invalid!”

“I swear, Harry.” Niall growls, ignoring Luke’s approach. “I only brought you with me so that the bond wouldn’t have a negative effect on your health. Get inside the barrier!”

“No!” Harry huffs.

“Luke, get him inside.” Niall orders.

“Try. I dare you.” Harry says evenly, leveling Luke with a glare that sends a shiver down his spine. He’s conflicted, because he has two kings, and both are giving him contradictory commands. The Beast wants to follow Harry, but Luke knows that Niall is right.

“Fuck.” Luke sighs. He sprints forward, grabbing Harry around the waist and throwing him over his shoulder. He runs back into the circle and drops Harry onto his ass. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“Damn it, Luke!” Harry yells, picking himself up and making a break for the barrier. He’s too late though. Niall finishes the line just as a dark cloud comes into view from the southeast. There’s a flash of light that shoots up into the sky over New Sanctum in a dome shape, completing the invisible barrier that stands as New Sanctum’s most powerful defense.

Harry slams into the barrier, bouncing off and rolling back until Luke stops him. “I’m sorry.” he repeats, helping Harry to his feet.

“You’ve left him to stand against an army by himself!” Harry spits out.

“He’s prepared for this.” Luke tells him, stepping forward to the barrier. “He’s actually been waiting for this kind of thing to happen. There probably won’t be much of a fight.”

“You’d better hope so, or I’ll have your head.” Harry snarls, standing beside him.

“Will both of you shut up?” Niall snaps at them, placing his hands on the other defense that he’d had Luke prepare. “How deep?”

“One meter, as you specified.” Luke answers.

“You’re the best.” Niall grins. He closes his eyes, and tendrils of gold race through the sand that he’d had Luke place. It extends out for one meter from the barrier all of the way around the campus. He only takes a portion of the trench for his use, but it’s more than Luke has ever seen, going twenty meters in both directions away from him. Immediately, it forms into hundreds of spears, pointed and floating in the air as a warning to those coming.

Luke is unsurprised to see the cloud stop short of the barrier, rushing down towards the ground and reforming as a horde of vampires. One steps forward, a woman with fiery red hair and fiercely green eyes wrapped in black leather from her neck down to her toes. Her voice is like ice, sharp and dangerous as she asks, “Who are you to believe you can stand alone against us?”

“I’m the one who put an end to the Master.” Niall tells her, stepping forward himself as a counter. Luke can hear through the barrier, but he can’t smell through it to tell if Niall is afraid. Harry’s grip on Luke’s bicep tells him that that’s probably the case. “He’ll never return, I made sure of that, so your loyalty is misplaced.”

“You lie!” one hisses, a slightly baby-faced man with dark hair and a petulant scowl.

“You know that I’m not lying.” Niall counters. “I have no reason to lie. The Master cannot return to this world. It’s simply not possible. Your cause is a lost one.”

“Listen to him.” one vampire says, stepping forward and away from the crowd until he’s by Niall’s side. He waves his hand across his face, and it changes back to Louis. “I was there. The Master fell at our hands, along with the two behind us, and three more. The seven of us overwhelmed him, and sent him away from the Earth.”

“William!” the baby-faced vampire gasps.

“It’s Louis, actually.” Louis corrects him. “Also known as the former left hand of the Master.”

“Traitor!” baby-face screams, leaping forward towards them. Niall launches three spears before he can even make it one step, separating baby-face’s head from his body and converting him into ash.

“I don’t suggest making a move against me.” Niall says harshly, withdrawing his spears instantly back into the hovering mass of them. “However, I do have a proposition for you.”

“You killed our Master, and you would try to make a deal with us?” the redhead sneers.

“I can give you something that he never could have.” Niall tells her. “And I can do it for every vampire who’s willing to swear their fealty to myself and my mate, the Kings of Home, formerly known as Final Bastion.”

“What could you possibly hope to accomplish that the Master couldn’t?” she asks.

“I’ve created a spell that the Master never managed.” Niall explains. “And Louis here can corroborate my story. I’ve made day-walking possible.”

“Liar!” comes a series of screams from inside the crowd.

“Day-walking is not possible.” the redhead says, holding her hand up and silencing the vampires behind her. “It’s a myth. The Master has been working on it since his creation.”

“And he couldn’t accomplish it, because he’s not like me.” Niall counters. “I’m a Halfling, a leprechaun, and my gold has special properties. Using this, I’ve created rings that have already allowed two vampires to day-walk for almost half a year so far.”

“It’s the truth.” Louis agrees. “And we’ve been creating more rings for anyone who wants to join us.”

“Why should we believe an enemy or a traitor?” she questions.

“Because, you either join us, or I put you down.” Niall says, voice unwavering in its intent. “You’ve threatened my people, and my allies. Any vampire who’s willing to swear their allegiance to the monarchy of Home will be given a ring, and any who stands against me will die. I killed thousands of your kind in the Battle of London. I have no problem recreating that here. You’ve interrupted the first time I’ve had to relax in ages, and I have a very pissed off, pregnant mate as a result.”

“We will need proof.” she says flatly. “It’s one thing to claim that you can give us day-walking, but another to actually do it.”

“I have no problem providing proof.” Niall tells her. “If your army withdraws.”

“I will stay behind to test your claim.” she counters. “If you cannot provide what you say you can, then the rest of our number will return tomorrow night, and finish what we came here to do.”

“Fine.” Niall nods. “But you should be aware, any vampire who challenges Home, New Sanctum, or Britain, will be put down without mercy or remorse. Home has allied itself with the humans, which means that they are under our protection.”

“Shrewd.” the redhead says with a smirk, turning back to the vampires behind her. “You all know what to do. Disperse, and return here tomorrow night. If I am dead, then lay waste to this place.”

A low murmur ripples through the crowd, but most of the vampires do as ordered, hesitant as they may be. A few dozen stay behind, clumped together. One strides forward, a tall man, dark and dangerous looking, and opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off by the redhead asking, “What do you think you’re doing, Damien?”

“That one is a traitor to us.” the one called Damien says harshly, his finger pointed at Louis. “He infiltrated our nest, and we will agree to no pact unless he is given over to us.”

“Not going to happen.” Niall says sternly, throwing an arm out in front of Louis instantly. “He is a citizen of Home, and is not to be touched. You’re welcome to try and get through my barrier to get to him though.”

“What are you-” Louis starts, but he’s immediately pushed backwards by Niall until he stumbles through the shield that ripples from his sudden injection into it. Harry growls next to Luke, trying to reach through the barrier again at its moment of weakness, only to be repelled as easily as he was before.

“I spent days making this barrier. The only way through it is with my permission, and you will not get that.” Niall explains.

“Or with your death.” Damien growls.

He lunges forward, but he only makes it halfway before he’s cut down. To Luke’s surprise, as well as the other two behind the barrier, it’s not Niall who did it. The redhead blows the remains of Damien off of her hand and glowers at the other vampires, asking, “Any of you care to follow him?”

The rest of them all attack in unison, but Niall reacts first this time, raining down his spears and skewering through all of them. Ash explodes outwards, falling to the ground in a thick cloud. “Why did you do that?” Niall asks her.

“Because I’m not letting a few pissed off vampires getting between me and day-walking.” she answers. “And if you’re going to be my king, I could probably use the points.”

“The rings have rules.” Niall tells her. “And once you put it on, you won’t be able to take it off without dying. I’ve set magical conditions on them.”

“Such as?” she questions.

“You’ll be unable to feed on anyone who’s unwilling.” Niall explains. “You’ll be unable to harm any citizen of Home, New Sanctum, or Britain. And you’ll be bound to follow the orders of the monarchs of Home. The rings will kill anyone who breaks the rules, or who tries to remove them.”

“That’s a lot to ask.” she sighs. “But I have seen the sun without suffering for five hundred years. I agree. I make no guarantees for the others, but I think you will find many who feel the same way.”

“What’s your name?” Niall asks.

“I am called Aednat.” she offers.

“I can see why. Your hair and temper are as fiery your name.” Niall chuckles. “Welcome to New Sanctum, Aednat. You may pass through the barrier, but if you try anything, I will end you.”

“I have no doubts about that.” she says, eyeing the spears.

“You’re going to keep the barrier up, right?” Luke asks once Niall walks in with Aednat at his side.

“Definitely.” Niall nods. “Take Aednat here to a room. Post a guard on her, but do not let anyone harm her unless she makes the first move. She’s under my protection.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Luke agrees easily.

 

“Liam, wake up.” comes a strong voice, pulling Liam from his slumber. He shoots up off of the bed when he recognizes the voice as belonging to Niall. Niall, who’s supposed to be on the surface right now, and not in Liam’s bedchamber.

“What’s happening?” he asks, suddenly very awake with his claws and fangs bared.

“I need your key.” Niall explains.

“My key?” Liam questions, hand instinctively coming up to clasp around the piece of metal hanging on a leather cord against his breast.

“It’s time.” Niall nods. “The vampires moved up the attack, so I had to make the offer earlier than we planned. Now I have to get into the vault, which means I need all six keys. I have Harry’s, Ashton’s, Luke’s, Louis’, and mine, which means I only need yours now.”

“Of course.” Liam breathes out, cutting the cord with a claw and wrapping his hand tightly around the key. “As long as you give me the password.”

“Ugh, I was being so overly cautious with all of this.” Niall sighs. “Bonn óir.”

“Alright.” Liam says, holding out the key. “And you didn’t make this too complicated. We both know that once the vampires find out about the rings, they may try to come after them. Glamouring themselves to look like you is a tactic that they might use.”

“I know.” Niall mutters. “Harry and I are cutting our holiday short.”

“Don’t.” Liam tells him. “I can handle things here. I’ll send extra support to New Sanctum too.”

“Liam-” Niall starts.

“I’m serious, Niall.” Liam cuts him off. “Harry hasn’t had any time to relax since he took the position of King. Soon you two will have the twins, and that means it will be even longer before you two can have some time to yourselves. Take this time for now, please. Just trust me to handle things.”

“Of course I trust you, Liam.” Niall smiles. “How have things been going with you and Ashton?”

“Thank you for sending him.” Liam mumbles bashfully. “He’s made the last two weeks much easier.”

“Has he taken you onto the pitch?” Niall asks.

“I’m officially the best goal keeper in Home.” Liam grins. “Nobody can score on me.”

“Don’t be too confident.” Niall hums. “Louis is officially coming back for a while, starting tomorrow night. He’s the best damn player I’ve ever seen, as much as I hate to admit it. You’ll have trouble defending against him.”

“We’ll see.” Liam chuckles.

“We’ll keep away if that’s what you want, but I’m offering you a chance to ease your load if you want it.” Niall says quietly, taking the key from Liam’s hand. “Things may get difficult from here on out. Part of the offer is that vampires will be allowed to become citizens of Home. That means providing residences, guides to teach them how things work here, helping them adjust to a new life. I know that it’s a lot of work, and with the way you feel about vampires- I just don’t want to overload you.”

“I’ll be fine, Niall.” Liam murmurs. “Thank you for worrying, but I’ll be fine. With Louis and Ashton here, we can manage all of that just fine.”

“Alright.” Niall agrees. “Do you need a few minutes before you join us?”

“Might as well just do it now.” Liam shrugs.

“Louis is there.” Niall muses, waggling his eyebrows before turning and marching out of Liam’s chambers. Liam knows that Niall is trying to bait him into showing some excitement, but that doesn’t mean he will. If he follows behind Niall with an added spring in his step, that’s his own damn business. It’s not like Niall can hear it.

They reach the vault after a few minutes, finding the other four key-holders there. He’s surprised to see Luke, but he quickly finds his attention taken up when he’s pushed to the ground by Louis, who lands on top of him. He can’t even ask what’s happening before their lips are pressed together in a kiss that would bruise if he still had blood-flow. “Missed you.” Louis slurs out against Liam’s lips.

“Missed you too.” Liam admits in a whisper.

“You would not believe the things that I had to do in that nest.” Louis mutters. “Worst sex ever.”

“We’ll remedy that soon enough.” Liam tells him. “I’ll fuck all the bad memories out of you.”

“Fucking ridiculous.” Harry mutters above them. “Will you two either get up, or go fuck somewhere else?”

“They were interrupted during sex to stop a battle.” Louis explains, waving Harry off and climbing up to his feet. “It’s made Harry a bit hormonal.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Harry scowls, smacking Louis in the back of the head. “You try being right on the edge of orgasm, only to find out that your people are being attacked because someone keeps calling your mate from the fucking bathroom. For the first time in days, I wasn’t dealing with morning sickness, which lasts all fucking day for your information. I was finally learning to act like a human. Everything was good, and then somebody fucked up their job, and I had to cut my first relaxation period in two and a half centuries short because of it!”

“Liam is letting us finish our holiday, Fuzzy.” Niall murmurs. “Calm yourself. We have things to do.”

“I am calm!” Harry snaps. “I am extremely calm!”

“Apparently self-awareness is not a power of a lycan king.” Louis snorts.

“I will fucking stake you.” Harry growls. “Keep pushing me, I dare you.”

“Alright, I think it’s time to come over here.” Niall says, tugging on Harry’s hand until they’re both standing in front of the vault. “Put your hands on the door, all of you.”

“Could you have made this thing any more difficult?” Harry huffs.

“Can you tell me one thing in the world more important than what is in this vault?” Niall counters.

“Not to vampires.” Liam says, placing his hand over the position that he’d been given at the top. Being a vampire, he’d been able to climb the massive door, which meant that he and Louis were the only candidates. Louis won a match of what he calls ‘arm wrestling’ which means that Liam has to do the work and climb. It was futile, seeing as Louis is his maker, but Liam forgot that when he agreed. It was not a proud moment for him.

“Why are we on the bottom again?” Ashton grumps, laying down on his stomach across from Louis.

“Because Louis tricked Liam, and because I can’t very well make Harry lay on the ground.” Niall answers. “Seeing as Luke’s political position is higher than yours, he got the standing spot. Deal with it.”

“Just desserts.” Liam smirks down at Louis.

“Remember you said that when I decide to top.” Louis fires back. “Gonna hold you down and fuck the insolence out of you.”

“Sure.” Liam scoffs. “Like you’d pass up the opportunity to have a cock in you.”

“Can we just open the vault?” Luke groans, reaching up and placing his hand in his slot.

“Yes.” Niall agrees, letting loose his wings and flying up to place his palm in the center of the door. Bright light starts pouring out of the spot under Liam’s hand, shooting down the surface of the door towards Louis’ hand. It bounces up from there towards Harry, and then across to Luke, down to Ashton, and finally back up to Liam, completing the pentagram. The gold door twists open once everyone’s hands are withdrawn, revealing a large chamber, filled to the ceiling with gleaming gold rings. “Alright, let’s gather the ones we’ll need for tomorrow night.”

“How many is that?” Luke questions at Louis.

“By my count, one-thousand-and-twelve after you took care of the nest that I was in.” Louis sighs, opening up a sack at his side. Liam recognizes it as a bag of expanded capacity. “Who knows how many we’ll actually need though. Better be safe and bring double, in case they told others about the deal.”

“Sounds good.” Niall nods. He raises his hand, and a stream of rings shoots forward and begins pouring into the bag. Liam never ceases to be amazed by the development that Niall has managed with his powers. A year ago, he could only make basic shapes with his golden sand, and couldn’t cast a spell without being coached through it. Now, the boy who set the draperies on fire and made Luke threaten to throttle him, can do all of this. He can cast spells with conditions that are insanely intricate and complex, has mastered magic that even the Master couldn’t achieve, and has control over his gold to the most precise level. He’s the most powerful being on Earth, and yet, he’s completely level-headed in a way that even Liam isn’t.

“That’s two thousand.” Niall says, cutting off the stream. “I doubt we’ll need that many once we tell them the conditions. We’re going to need a really good vacuum to pick up all of that ash.”

“You underestimate the draw of day-walking.” Louis mutters. “You can’t even imagine it. I doubt you’ll find much resistance, even with the conditions on the rings. Speaking of which, I need to get mine back from your mum. I don’t plan on violating any of the conditions that are set on the other rings, but I do quite like having a special one. Makes me feel superior.”

“Like you need more of that.” Ashton scoffs.

“Are we done here?” Harry whines, tugging impatiently at Niall’s arm.

“We are.” Niall nods, waving his hand and slamming the vault door closed again. “Liam, I’m sorry to take him back before you can ‘fuck all the bad memories out of’ him, but I need to borrow Louis for another day.”

“That’s fine.” Liam nods. “I need to begin making preparations for the possible influx of vampires. The citizenry isn’t going to be happy about this, but at least they’ve all known it was coming for a while.”

“Since the order came from Niall, I’m pretty sure most people don’t mind.” Ashton hums. “Nobody is more well-loved than he is. Especially after he created the footy pitch. I think the people miss tournaments, but football is gaining popularity quickly.”

“I’m pretty sure it was ending the war that gained him his adoration.” Liam points out.

“Old news.” Ashton waves him off. “It’s all about the footy now.”

“I think somebody wants to move back to Home.” Niall grins.

“Are you kidding me?” Ashton scoffs. “I can’t wait to get back to New Sanctum and begin setting up a football club there. We can start having real games once I do. Ooh! And maybe we can add in an all vampire team! Vampires versus lycans in an all-out war on the pitch!”

“I think there’s been enough war for a while.” Luke chuckles, tugging Ashton into his side. “Keep the competition healthy, Babe.”

“We won’t eat each other on the pitch.” Ashton hums. “That’s healthy.”

“It might be a good way for the vampires to feel more accepted.” Liam points out. “Though I think a mixed team would achieve that better.”

“Yes, yes, this is all well and good, but we have things to do.” Harry cuts in. “Everyone who’s going back to New Sanctum, gather around.”

“See you tomorrow night.” Louis whispers in Liam’s ear, reaching back and pinching at his bum. Liam rolls his eyes, but leans in to press another kiss against Louis’ lips.

“I can’t wait.” he murmurs softly.

“Ugh, don’t get all lovely or I’ll tell their Royal Arses to stuff it and that I’m staying here tonight.” Louis mumbles. “Keep it flirty and sexual.”

“Can’t help it when it comes to you.” Liam says, reaching his hand up and cupping Louis’ cheek gently. “I missed more than just the sex. I missed you, Louis.”

“I missed you too, Li.” Louis chuckles. “I’ve got a few weeks free from any missions, so we’ll have some time when I get back. We can spend it reconnecting.”

“Sounds perfect.” Liam smiles. “Now get out of here. I think Harry is about to blow.”

“You’re god damn right I am!” Harry groans.

“Tomorrow.” Louis repeats before heading over to the rest of the group. Ashton stays at Liam’s side, waving goodbye to the others, and then they’re gone in a flash of light that makes Liam blink profusely.

 

“You understand that putting on this ring means complying totally with the conditions placed upon it, yes?” Niall asks, holding out a ring in the center of his palm.

“Yes.” Aednat confirms with a nod. “And it is a price that I am willing to pay for the ability that it will grant me.”

“All of your powers will remain intact, but, should you break any of the restrictions, it will kill you.” Niall adds. “And if you try to remove it, no matter the time of day, it will kill you.”

“I know.” Aednat says shortly. “And I have come to terms with that.”

“And you’re willing to pledge your fealty to the man who, twelve hours ago, you considered your mortal enemy?” Niall asks.

“I side with power.” Aednat says evenly. “The Master is gone, which makes you the most powerful being on the planet. I know better than to stand against that. From what Louis has told me in the last few hours, you’re a just monarch. I’d rather stand with you, than against you. If what you claim about this ring is true, then I will gladly pledge my loyalty to King Niall of Home.”

“It’s like nobody bloody remembers I exist.” Harry grumbles, sulking against the wall.

“Don’t take anything he says right now to heart. Pregnancy hormones.” Niall says, waving off his mate with a laugh. “You may take the ring. It’s going to sting for just a moment when you put it on. That’s the contractual magic sealing.”

Aednat nods and pulls the ring onto her finger without any hesitation. She sucks air in through her teeth, and her eyes flash red for a moment, and then settle back into the green shade they normally are, and she grits out, “That was more than just a sting.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Niall says sheepishly. “You’re actually the first test subject that we’ve had for the conditional rings. The two vampires who’ve been using the rings don’t have the restrictions on them. They’re special cases.”

“The Chevalier-vampire, and the vampire-Chevalier.” Aednat hums. “They’re well known in our community. I have a great interest in meeting this ‘Liam’.”

“In time.” Niall tells her. “First, how about you test out the ring?”

“I would like that very much.” Aednat says. “May I?”

“Those doors there will lead you outside.” Niall explains. “Would you mind if we escort you?”

“Not at all.” Aednat shrugs, striding towards the entrance. She stops just short of the door, like she’s frozen on the spot, and then pushes it open. Niall will say one thing about Aednat for sure, she’s fearless. She doesn’t bother sticking a hand out into the sunlight to test, but instead walks straight out into the low light of the sunrise. Within seconds she breaks into a run, a loud laugh escaping from her lips that doesn’t at all match the harsh demeanor that she’s put forth so far. She runs right towards where the sun is coming up over one of the rolling hills, slowing down as she approaches the barrier, and falls to her knees. Niall walks up beside her and she chokes out, “It works. It really works.”

“It does.” Niall says with a soft smile. “Can I count on you to help bring others of your kind to my side?”

“I will do everything in my power, Your Majesty.” Aednat whispers. “You’ve given me back the sun. I would go to the ends of the Earth to repay the favor that you have done me.”

“Right now, I’m just looking for someone for the UK.” Niall chuckles. “Someone who other vampires will trust. Word will spread about Louis’ involvement in the Master’s banishment, and that means that he’s not a good candidate. Liam was never even a part of the vampire community. But you- You seem to be a leader amongst your people. You’re smart, you’re old enough to earn respect, and you’re powerful. I have no doubt in my mind that you would be well suited for the work I have in mind, if you would be willing.”

“Ask it of me, and I shall deliver.” Aednat murmurs, eyes still locked on the sun.

“I need an emissary from Home to the vampire community. Someone to gather your kind, and help show them a new way of living. It’s time that vampires came out of the darkness that the Master cast over your species. I know that there are those among you who don’t wish to harm people, who never wanted anything to do with the war. I would like to offer them lives in Home. A fresh start for anyone who’s willing to accept the conditions of the ring.” Niall explains. “If you don’t think that you’re the person for the job, that’s fine. I wouldn’t hold it against you if you wanted a fresh start for yourself.”

“I was a milkmaid.” Aednat says quietly. “Just a lowly farmer’s daughter. Would you trust such an important position to someone like that?”

“I was a singer.” Niall shrugs. “Our past might shape us, but our decisions define us. Every choice that we make has the potential to change us. I’m not interested in who you were, Aednat. I’m interested in who you could be. Will you help me?”

“I will, Your Majesty.” Aednat smiles, finally turning her gaze from the sunlight back towards Niall.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know yet when I'll finish this up, but I'm working on it. Please be patient with me.


End file.
